Mandate Results

76% vote “Yes” for Ngāpuhi to negotiate Treaty settlement

Landslide vote by Ngāpuhi gives mandate to Te Rōpū o Tūhoronuku to negotiate Treaty settlement

Ngāpuhi, New Zealand’s biggest iwi, has voted overwhelmingly to begin Treaty settlement negotiations with the Crown.

In results announced this morning by an independent election management company 76% of Ngāpuhi have voted to give mandate to Te Rōpū o Tūhoronuku*, Ngāpuhi’s Treaty settlement entity, to begin settlement negotiations.

Said Tūhoronuku Interim Chairman, Raniera (Sonny) Tau: “This is the most significant development in Ngāpuhi’s modern day history. Ngāpuhi have spoken in large numbers and decisively in the biggest exercise in Iwi democracy ever undertaken in this country.

“Three out of four Ngāpuhi who voted have given their mandate to Tūhoronuku to negotiate a settlement with the Crown. From being the biggest but poorest iwi, Ngāpuhi is now on its way to settlement and cultural, social and economic advancement.

“To Ngāpuhi katoa - thank you for taking the opportunity to vote. We are humbled by your commitment and level of support. Our commitment to you remains the same – we will continue to consult with you, and all Ngāpuhi will benefit from this settlement.

“Settlement will have a profound effect on Ngāpuhi, Northland and the wider Ngāpuhi communities throughout Aotearoa and Australia, just as settlement has done for Tainui and Ngai Tahu.”

Mr Tau said this result also gave other clear messages:

For Government: “It now has a responsibility to accept the democratic wish of Ngāpuhi and recognise this mandate for Tūhoronuku.”

For Ngāpuhi leadership: “We have a responsibility to move forward with settlement now that the overwhelming majority of our people have pointed us in this direction. It will not be easy but it will be worthwhile as we move forward united, as Ngāpuhi did historically.”

Mr Tau reiterated that the door would remain open to Ngāpuhi hapu and Treaty claimant communities who wish to be part of this historic journey.

The result follows a six week election period, during which Tūhoronuku conducted the biggest communications effort in the history of Iwi Maori to reach Ngāpuhi, no matter where they live.

Twenty mandating hui were held throughout the Bay of Islands, Hokianga, Whangarei, Auckland, Wellington, Nelson, Invercargill, Sydney and Perth.

Ngāpuhi were also able to vote by post, online or by fax.

In all, 23% of the 29 389 who received voting packs voted in the mandate elections.
This was:

twice the number who voted during Ngāpuhi’s Constitutional Review in 2001
1.5% more than the 21.4% who participated in mandate voting for Ngati Porou in 2007.Te Runanga o Ngati Porou’s mandate was recognised by the Government.

The Ngāpuhi mandate voting process was managed by independent Christchurch Company Electionz.com, who ran last year’s local government elections.

*Te Rōpū o Tūhoronuku is an independent sub-committee of Te Runanga-A-Iwi-Ngāpuhi. It will have 15 representatives: seven Hapu (who are appointed by Hapu Kaikorero), Kaumatua and Kuia representatives (appointed by Ngāpuhi Kaumatua and Kuia), Rohe representatives (appointed by rohe groupings) and two Runanga representatives (appointed by Te Runanga A Iwi O Ngāpuhi). Four Hapu representative positions remain open.

Profiles of the current 11 representatives can be found on http://tuhoronuku.com/about

Ngāpuhi– the facts:

122,214 identify as Ngāpuhi (Census 2006) making it by far the biggest iwi in Aotearoa
13% of Ngāpuhi live in the tribal area of Northland, while more than 60% reside in greater Auckland
39% are under 15, while 3% are 65 or older
56% of those over 15 earn less than $20,000 annually (Census 2006)
Half over 15 have no formal education qualification
Māori make up 33% of the Northland population – the national Māori population is 14.6%
GDP per capita in Northland is a third lower than the national average

The Ngāpuhi journey to settlement

At the Annual General Meeting of Te Runanga-A-Iwi-O-Ngāpuhi in October 2008, the Runanga was directed by Kaumatua and Kuia to lead Ngāpuhi into settlement with the Crown over its breaches against Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
In March 2009 the Runanga board set up an independent sub-committee called Te Rōpū o Tūhoronuku (Tūhoronuku) to progress the settlement.
Over the past three years Tūhoronuku has held 44 consultation hui throughout Aotearoa and parts of Australia to consult with Ngāpuhi about whether they wished to progress to settlement, and the structure they wanted for this journey.
Online forums and other forms of communication were also undertaken, so that as many Ngāpuhi as possible would be informed and could be part of the process.
In January 2011, the Crown endorsed Tūhoronuku’s Deed of Mandate strategy, describing it as “sound” and “in line with Crown criteria for a robust and transparent mandating process.” The endorsement letter was signed by the Minister of Maori Affairs and the Minister of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations.
For those hapu who have had concerns, Tūhoronuku delayed the mandate process three times in 2011, and entered into Crown-sponsored facilitation by respected statesman Rt Hon Jim Bolger.
Mandate voting opened on 10 August and closed on 21 September 2011.

Next steps

Tūhoronuku is now preparing its Deed of Mandate application for submitting to the Crown.

During this period, Tuhoronuku will continue to hui with Hapu, whanau and claimants and is participating in a working party to develop a process that enables Ngapuhi to negotiate a comprehensive settlement on behalf of Ngapuhi and claimants in Te Paparahi o Te Raki inquiry to have their issues heard before the Waitangi Tribunal (Stage 2 Hearings).

Once the Deed of Mandate application is submitted, the Office of Treaty Settlements (OTS) will publicly advertise the Deed of Mandate application and hold a public submission process, seeking comments from interested parties. Four weeks is the usual timeframe within which submissions are received.

After reviewing any submissions, OTS, in consultation with Te Puni Kokiri, will then report to the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations and the Minister of Māori Affairs. The Ministers will then decide whether to recognise the mandate on behalf of the Crown.