“It’s time to put advancement of Ngāpuhi first, and stop misinformation”

In a month that has seen a focus on Northland and its woeful social and economic disparity, we urge the handful of people peddling misinformation about the Ngāpuhi settlement to put the advancement of our people first.

The facts are:

- Ngāpuhi overwhelmingly want to stay united and want one settlement

- Ngāpuhi gave their mandate to Te Rōpū o Tūhoronuku to represent them in Te Tiriti o Waitangi settlement negotiations with the Crown

- The Tūhoronuku Independent Mandated Authority (Tūhoronuku IMA) is a hapū-led entity, that represents almost 50 hapū in the five traditional regions of Te Tai Tokerau

- The door has been and will always be open to all Ngāpuhi hapū to be part of this historic settlement journey, which will transform our people and region.

It is therefore disappointing that a small number of Ngāpuhi individuals are consumed with trying to stop the settlement. And worse, they are propagating misinformation.

We can confirm that the mandated Hapū Kaikōrero of Te Uri o Hua, Te Takoto Kē and Ngāti Kura continue to be represented on the Tūhoronuku IMA.

Ngāpuhi is by far the biggest iwi in Aotearoa – more than twice the size of Waikato-Tainui and Ngai Tahu. We have a large number of hapū, and it is only natural that from time to time one or two will be in discussions about their involvement with this important kaupapa.

We can confirm that a number of hapū are in on-going talks about joining the Tūhoronuku IMA. We welcome this, and expect the number to grow as we move to negotiations with the Crown.

Ngāpuhi are determined. We want settlement now, so we and our mokopuna live to see Ngāpuhi reach its full potential in our lifetime.

We say to those individuals trying to deny our people this dream: let us not fight among ourselves. Let us unite as Ngāpuhi to achieve the very best settlement we can – not in generations to come, but in 2015.

ends

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