Te Kōkiri Ngātahi demonstrates commitment to settlement progress

Today's successful second annual Kōkiri Ngātahi hui on progressing the settlement of Treaty of Waitangi claims re-affirms the commitment by Māori and the Crown to the completion of the historical settlement process, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Christopher Finlayson said.

"Discussions today centred on how we can further accelerate the record levels of activity and progress in settlements achieved in the last year," Mr Finlayson said. The Government also re-affirmed its goal of settling historical Treaty claims by 2014.

This year, a number of groups that have already settled their claims attended in order to share their experiences.

Mr Finlayson announced the introduction of an iwi mentoring scheme to support groups to share their knowledge with those in earlier stages of the process.

The announcement follows initiatives from the Kōkiri Ngātahi hui last year, which together constitute a wide suite of policies to streamline and improve the settlement process.

"These changes were achieved through dialogue between Māori and the Crown," Mr Finlayson said. "This dialogue will continue to improve the settlement process as we move towards our goal of completing settlements for all groups that suffered historical breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi by the Crown."

The hui was attended by representatives of over 70 claimant groups.