A Ngapuhi kaumatua has lodged a claim for up to $2.3 billion for government delays in settling the land claims of Tai Tokerau hapu.
Rihari Dargaville said he arrived at the figure by looking at settlements such as the $170 million paid to Ngai Tahu in 1996, and factoring in interest accrued since then.
In his claim to the Waitangi Tribunal, Mr Dargaville said Ngai Tahu received their settlement just 10 years after first lodging their claims.
He said he and other northern claimants had been preparing and advancing claims since the early 1990s and had yet to receive a cent.
The claim said Tai Tokerau hapu had lost money and mana because of the Crown's insistence on dealing with large so-called natural groupings, which had caused division, dissent and conflict.
