Release on Behalf of New Zealand Maori Council

There appears to be some confusion in the media.
Today's announcement from the Government is not relevant to the water claim.

The Government is not offering Maori anything in settlement of their water claims. This announcement merely enables some Maori groups to agree, should they wish, to accept shares in SOEs instead of cash in relation to settlements that are currently under negotiation.

In order to be eligible, the Government must have already recognised that the group concerned is entitled to receive cash well in excess of the amount that will be offered in shares.

The shares will be in place of cash. So Maori groups will be no better off then they would be under existing negotiations.

Those existing negotiations do not recognise Maori proprietary interests in water. The only difference following this announcement is that if Maori groups wish to participate in the share sale, they may be able to do so even if their settlement negotiations are yet to be concluded.

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