Clumsy Act Bill Will Make Durable Treaty Settlements Harder

Acting Treaty Settlements Ministers Nick Smith today announced that National would not support ACT's Treaty of Waitangi (Final Settlement of Claims) Bill.

"It is a clumsy Bill that will make timely, durable settlements more difficult. ACT completely misreads Maoridom in believing that holding a gun to their heads will deliver quicker settlements."

"The subtle message behind the Bill is that Maori must agree by a particular date or get nothing. Settlements achieved in this environment will not be durable."

"The timelines proposed in the Bill are reasonable goals that the Government is striving for. The mistake is pretending that putting them in law will help them be achieved."

"The Bill has little to do with achieving timely, durable settlements and everything to do with politics. ACT has more brains than Pauline Hanson but is wooing the same constituency. The Treaty settlement process has to date been kept above party politics and it is disappointing to see ACT trying to exploit it. "