Treaty Settlement Inquiry Canned by Govt. MPs

Dr Pita Sharples today spoke of his profound disappointment that the Maori Affairs Select Committee was unprepared to take up the challenge of reviewing the Treaty Settlement process, despite national and international pressure to do so.

“The Select Committee mechanism is meant to be one of the key tenets of the New Zealand democratic process” said Dr Sharples. “Our role is clear – to work on behalf of the House, to initiate investigations and to scrutinise government spending – and then to report back our conclusions to the wider parliament”.

“There has been long-standing frustration expressed by whanau, hapu and iwi; by the Waitangi Tribunal and by international experts, that urge a full and fearless inquiry into the Government’s treaty settlement process” said Dr Sharples.

“The Maori Party has consistently raised these concerns in the House and felt it was high time that the wider Parliament was able to scrutinise such a significant proposal in greater depth”.

“Today’s decision makes a mockery of the notion of democracy” said Dr Sharples.

Why an inquiry is needed

(1) There is widespread dissatisfaction and frustration with Treaty settlement policies and processes from hapu and iwi claimants negotiating settlements with the Crown. Rather than settling grievances and putting them to rest, the Crown continually refuses to address critical concerns and also creates new breaches by riding roughshod over due process. As a member of the Committee I've seen this first hand in all the Settlement Bills that have come before us - it's totally devasting to the people involved. No real settlement can be possible in such an environment.

(2) The Waitangi Tribunal has written a number of reports pointing out the failure of the Crown to follow due process. Their recently published Tamaki Makaurau Settlement Process Report and The Impact of the Crown's Treaty Settlement Policy on Te Arawa Waka are clear examples of this. Each report contains recommendations which are routinely ignored by the government. The concerns that the Waitangi Tribunal raises provides all the evidence one needs to see that an inquiry is urgently needed.

(3) The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Professor Rodolfo Stavenhagen, recommended after his mission here in late 2005, a number of changes were needed to the settlement process in order to be consistent with international human rights norms and laws. In particular he recommended a review of the settlements process: that the "Crown should engage in negotiations with Maori to reach agreement on a more fair and equitable settlement policy and process".

(4) The deep flaws of the settlement process also caught the attention of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in August this year when commenting on the periodic report submitted to them by the New Zealand Government. They were concerned by government's routine ignoring of Waitangi Tribunal recommendations, noting that "such arrangements deprive claimants of a right to an effective remedy".

(5) Confidence in the process is also failing in Parliament, with the government uncertain of support for any settlement legislation. The inquiry suggested by the Maori Party, in the interests of hapu and iwi and indeed the whole nation, has been turned down flat by the government with the flimsy excuse that an inquiry will hold up settlements. Well they're already being held up by the lack of confidence in them as reasonable agreements delivered by a fair and just process. This cannot continue - something has to be done. The Maori Party is committed to getting an inquiry underway.

Dissatisfaction and frustration with the current Treaty settlements policies and processes are commonplace experiences of hapü and iwi claimants negotiating settlements with the Crown.

The Waitangi Tribunal’s recently publishedTamaki Makaurau Settlement Process Report and The Impact of the Crown's Treaty Settlement Policy on Te Arawa Waka are clear examples of this. The recently discussed Te Roroa Claims Settlement Bill has also highlighted to this Committee the plethora of injustices being promulgated through the current Treaty settlements policy and process framework.

An inquiry into the policies and processes used in Treaty settlements is urgently needed. The proposal is that this be facilitated through the Maori Affairs parliamentary select committee. The overarching purpose of the inquiry would be to compile a list of recommendations for action.

Objectives

(1) That the Committee inquire into the policies and procedures employed by the Office of Treaty Settlements, including policies and practices in relation to:

• large natural groupings;

1 appointment of negotiators and mandating;

2 settlement entities;

3 resourcing of claimants;

4 timeframes for negotiations;

5 consultation culture, including how the principles of fairness and fiduciary duty are utilised;

with a view to identifying where difficulties with claimant groups arise and why, and what alternative policies and processes there might be to address the difficulties;

(2) That the inquiry seek analyses from those claimant groups who have completed settlements to gain a clear and detailed understanding of the current issues, and what alternative policies and processes would be preferred;

(3) That the inquiry give consideration to the establishment of an Independent Claims Authority;

(4) That the inquiry produces a set of recommendations to improve the Treaty settlements process for claimant groups and the Office of Treaty Settlements.

ENDS

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