Less than 4% of Ngapuhi want Tuhoronuku representation

A meeting held in Kaikohe yesterday was presented with the interim results of the recent mandate campaign run by Tuhoronuku, a subcommittee of Ngapuhi's charitable fisheries trust, Te Runanga a Iwi o Ngapuhi. About 30 Ngapuhi kaumatua and kuia had been invited to consider the preliminary outcome of a vote seeking support for this subcommittee to negotiate and settle all of Ngapuhi's estimated 450 historical Treaty of Waitangi claims, the largest and most complex settlement in New Zealand’s history.

According to Tuhoronuku there are approximately 144,000 Ngapuhi, however only 29,389 were sent voting packs and less than 25% of those, just 6818 participated in the vote. Although the interim chair of the sub-committee Sonny Tau claimed during the meeting that Tuhoronuku had secured support from Ngapuhi for a mandate, the reality is that the 5210 votes they received represents less than 4% of Ngapuhi's population. Hardly resounding or significant support from Ngapuhi to negotiate a settlement.

In spite of the huge amounts of money poured into the mandate process by Te Runanga a Iwi o Ngapuhi, the results are hugely disappointing given the low voter turnout for what is the country’s biggest tribe.

A significant 24% of Ngapuhi who managed to cast a vote opposed Tuhoronuku. This represents the largest vote against a mandate that any iwi entity has ever faced in the history of such votes. In the past the crown has been able to get away with accepting very low voting numbers because those who vote tend to support the mandate (over 90% support and higher is the norm).

The Crown would be ill advised to validate a mandate from Tuhoronuku on these numbers alone and particularly given that the Tuhoronuku mandate strategy has also been plagued with a number of other issues including errors in the mandating materials among a host of other blunders.

To ignore these issues and flawed mandate process would create a further grievance between Ngapuhi and the Crown.

Concerned with the outstanding issues with the Te Roopu o Tuhoronuku Deed of Mandate Strategy and recent mandate hui, the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations has invited representatives from Te Roopu o Tuhoronuku and Te Kotahitanga o Nga Hapu Ngapuhi to meet with him in Wellington today (30 September 2011).

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