4 August 2005
Labour’s Treaty limit unworkable, says AUT academic
Labour’s plans for a deadline of 2008 for the filing of historical land claims with the Waitangi Tribunal is simply
unworkable, says AUT Maori Studies lecturer and Treaty of Waitangi specialist Dr Paul Moon.
He says in the past 15 years, there have been a number of deadlines set by various governments, but all of these have
been breached.
“The problem is these deadlines seem to be set for political purposes, and ignore the actual number of potential claims
yet to be lodged with the Tribunal,” Dr Moon says.
While he concedes that the majority of historical claims have already been lodged, he says the deadline Labour is
proposing will not affect other types of claims, and will eventually end up simply shifting the emphasis of the
Tribunal.
“If such deadlines are imposed, it will not in any way signal the demise of the Tribunal,” says Dr Moon. “Instead, it
will cause some groups to shift their focus to other areas of Treaty breaches, which so far have tended to take a back
seat to the historical claims.”
ENDS