Te Arawa Treaty deal doomed to fail, says academic

The Government's latest push to conclude a multimillion-dollar Treaty settlement with Te Arawa is not only doomed to fail, says AUT University history professor Paul Moon, but is the tip of the iceberg of forthcoming difficulties with the entire Treaty settlement process.

"Almost on a weekly basis," says Professor Moon, "the Crown is perpetrating further breaches of the Treaty in order to rush through settlements, and in doing so, is making a sham of the entire settlement process."

At the heart of the problem is the Crown's refusal, in many cases, to recognise that hapu (sub-tribes) are the specific parties to the Treaty, and not entire iwi. "The Crown is looking for a large-scale, quick-fix for settlements," he says, "and in the process, is steam-rolling over the rights of individual hapu, treating them almost as if they do not exist and have no rights under the Treaty."

"In just the last month, I have been approached by representatives from two hapu whose claims have been disallowed because the Tribunal prefers only to deal with iwi," says Professor Moon. "In doing this, the Tribunal is manifestly breaching the Treaty, which is specifically an agreement between the Crown and hapu."

Professor Moon believes that the long-term prospects for the Tribunal and the Treaty settlement process are bleak. "Many claimants and potential claimants are now becoming deeply disillusioned with the entire claims and settlement process, and some of them are facing up to the prospect of never having their grievances adequately resolved."

Media advisory

Professor Moon's inaugural professorial address Maori Cannibalism: Tradition Versus Revision will be held on Tuesday 4 September 2007, 4.30pm - 5.30pm at AUT's City Campus.

Professor Moon draws on a wide array of sources from a variety of disciplines to examine how and why Maori ate other human beings, and why the practice shuddered to a halt just a few decades after the arrival of Europeans in New Zealand.

For more information see http://www.aut.ac.nz/about/news_and_information/lectures/

ENDS

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