Wilson's guiding principles are nothing new

"Maori and pakeha alike will be disappointed to learn that the best Margaret Wilson can do after eight months in the job is repeat obvious truisms as if they were nuggets of newly discovered wisdom," National's Georgina te Heuheu said today.

Margaret Wilson has today outlined her six "guiding principles" for future Treaty settlements.

"She doesn't seem to realise these are principles which have already been in operation for years. The 'good faith' principle for example was determined by the courts in 1987.

"With the settlement process seemingly having stalled since Labour took office it's disappointing to see that Ms Wilson's approach to the task of Treaty claim settlements is so lacking in insight.

"Stating the blinking obvious moves us no closer to what every New Zealander wants - the resolution of outstanding claims so that the grievance process can be put behind us and we can move forward together.

"Under National that process had built up a good head of steam, and was moving forward at an encouraging speed. If Margaret Wilson's lack of insight causes that momentum to be lost then people will grow impatient.

"People like Sir Douglas Graham earned high mana with Maori for developing a strong framework to resolve claims at a steady pace. Those are big shoes to fill, and today's pronouncements suggest Ms Wilson will not be up to that challenge," Georgina te Heuheu said.

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