Hooton on Treaty Settlements

Matthew Hooton writes in the SST on how Sir Douglas Graham launched 18 separate Treaty negotiations and he completed 10 before leaving office. Under much the same time period, Labour has completed the eight started by SIr Douglas, but has managed to launch and complete only one settlement on its own.

Hooton goes on to say:

Worse, the integrity of the process is slowly being undermined. A correlation has emerged between the Crown’s speed and generosity and the extent of an iwi’s links with the Labour Party. The government-controlled Office of Treaty Settlements has been condemned by the Waitangi Tribunal and the Maori Party for favouring some groups over others, for bungling, and for having a less than wholehearted commitment to the truth.

This lack of transparency is also making it difficult to measure the real economic value of proposed settlements, causing confusion about whether or not the Tainui and Ngai Tahu relativity clauses should apply – and therefore ultimately threatening to undermine every settlement so far.

The problem has been that the prime minister has not appointed Treaty ministers with the sufficient leadership qualities to do the job.

Matthew has a solution – appoint Michael Cullen as Minister of Treaty Negotiations. In fact he offers Clark advice on how to win a fourth term:

To win next year, Labour needs a circuit breaker. If finance minister Phil Goff were to cut our taxes, climate change Minister Jeanette Fitzsimons were to competently design a climate change policy, and Cullen were to rekindle the national pride of Sir Douglas’s 1990s settlements, then Clark might yet have a chance of a fourth term.

Matthew is right in my opinion. I just hope Clark does not follow his advice.