24 Jun 2014

Turia looking forward to settlement

7:28 am on 24 June 2014

Te Tai Hauauru MP Tariana Turia is happy her people will see a settlement of the Whanganui River before her she retires, she says.

Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson said he expected the settlement would be signed next month.

It will require resource consents to be negotiated with iwi and establish the river as its own legal entity, to be managed by tribes.

Mrs Turia, of Ngati Apa and Whanganui iwi descent, is to leave Parliament at the next election and said she was happy the settlement would happen before then.

Whanganui iwi had been involved in the longest litigation process of any iwi, she said. Many elders from the river had died during the process, and many negotiators and members were looking forward to moving on.