Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson says settlement payouts are not determined by the size of an iwi or its population alone.
The Government announced at Waitangi on Thursday that it is prepared to offer some form of payment on account to provide an incentive to Ngapuhi to reach settlement with the Crown.
Negotiations have stalled because the tribe can't decide who should represent it.
Tuhoronuku chair Sonny Tau says any settlement for Ngapuhi should be worth up to $600 million, because it has the biggest population.
But Mr Finlayson says settlement payouts take into account a variety of factors including how much land was confiscated from the iwi and what rotten deals were done that lead to loss of land for the tribe.
Mr Finlayson says he encourages Ngapuhi to take up the challenge and negotiate a mandate amongst itself.
