Julian Wilcox

• Leading New Zealand Journalist
• Host of Māori Television's current affairs programme, Native Affairs
• Ngāti Rangi, Ngāti Korokoro, Te Mahurehure, Ngāti Moerewa, Te Kapotai
• Tāmaki Makaurau

"Kia tū tika ai te whare tapu o Ngāpuhi".

For me, a Settlement is about 2040 and the reception we as Ngapuhi can give Maoridom and Aotearoa when the nation commemorates two hundred years since the signing of the Treaty.

What will the Ngapuhi confederation, and indeed the Ngapuhi nation, look like in 2040?

What needs to be achieved to ensure the mana and reputation of Ngapuhi is enhanced before this historic milestone?

How can we ensure that Ngapuhi is spiritually, economically, physically, but perhaps most importantly, culturally capable of fulfilling its responsibilities at this event?

These questions and more are at the forefront of my mind, because in 2040 it will be my generation left to promote what it is to be Ngapuhi.In 2040, I will be sixty five years old. That leaves 30 years of planning, preparation and effort.

What is important is that we achieve Settlement as quickly as possible, so we can focus on the future.

Ngapuhi themselves can then focus on the assets, opportunities, social and cultural programmes needed to ensure that the celebrated "house" of Ngapuhi is as strong and powerful as it can be. We need to ensure that its "posts" are as solid as they can be. That its "ridgepole" is as straight and true as it can be. And that all its "residents" are as safe, as healthy, as warm and as comfortable as they can be.

In 2040, I see Ngapuhi as a major player in the life of Aotearoa. This is my dream for my iwi post-Settlement.