‘Fair, equitable’ settlement sought

Press, 24 September 1988, Page 3

‘Fair, equitable’ settlement sought

By

OLIVER RIDDELL,

in Wellington

The Government is committed to finding “a fair and equitable settlement of any proven Maori grievance,” according to the Minister of Maori Affairs, Mr Wetere.

He told a Planning Council seminar on race relations in Wellington yesterday that the Treaty of Waitangi had been signed as a compact that pledged partnership. While it had been signed by both parties in good faith and with high ideals, inequities had soon developed and rights pledged to the Maori partner had been quickly and surely invaded or set aside. The treaty was a simple document but its provisions had proved elusive. “It has been honoured more in the breach than in compliance and it is this which grieves the Maori partner,” the Minister said. “It is hard to do justice to 148 years of Maori despair and anguish over breaches to the treaty.

“We need to cast out these ghosts of our past if we are to leave our children with an inheritance of peace and opportunity for the future.” Treaty issues were not just a recent bandwagon phenomenon, Mr Wetere said. There was a long history of Maori effort which had kept the treaty alive.

of what was happening in 1988. The number of claims registered with the tribunal, and the numbers expected, would overload the tribunal members, Mr Wetere said. He planned to expand the tribunal from seven to 16 members and to permit it to sit in divisions so that several claims could be heard at the same time. One of the main frontiers still to be tackled was that of public perception. “It is difficult to educate the public when the news media often sees more mileage in highlighting the negative aspects of the hysteria of self-interested groups, who rise to each new decision with carping and often racist criticism,” he said.

The Government’s policy was to provide the means whereby treaty grievances could be examined objectively by a skilled and independent body. In 1984, Labour’s manifesto had spoken of improving the Waitangi Tribunal, honouring Waitangi Day and establishing a Bill of Rights for the treaty, he said. These matters had paled against the reality

“It is this hurt which gives rise to the Government’s commitment that a fair and equitable settlement of proven Maori grievance must be found,” he said.