The Minister of Treaty Negotiations has extended the deadline for iwi groups to contest an impending settlement by the Pare Hauraki Collective.
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
The decision follows a hikoi at Parliament yesterday where around 600 people, many of whom from Tauranga Moana, demanded that the Crown facilitate and allow iwi to resolve their overlapping treaty claims according to Māori custom or tikanga, before finalising treaty settlements.
Tauranga Moana iwi, Ngāi Te Rangi, believes a group of 12 iwi based around the Hauraki Plains, otherwise known as the Pare Hauraki Collective, should not have rights over the Tauranga Harbour.
That's despite a Waitangi Tribunal finding in 2004 that the Hauraki iwi did have customary interests in the area.
Andrew Little is allowing iwi groups until Friday May 25th to provide further information for him to consider before finalising the Hauraki iwi collective's redress deed. It's the second time he's pushed back the deadline.
He said he would consider any new information before he makes his final decision.
