National hui to progress Treaty settlement goal

A hui of iwi leaders and the Crown will begin the dialogue on the best ways to meet the government's goal of completing the settlement of all historical claims under the Treaty of Waitangi by 2014.

The hui, organised by the Crown, will be held in Auckland on April 22. Representatives of iwi in the settlement process have been invited to attend the hui, Te Kokiri Ngatahi (Moving Forward Together), which will be hosted by Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Christopher Finlayson. Other ministers in attendance will include the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Maori Affairs and the Minister of Conservation.

"This hui is an historic opportunity for the Crown and Maori to work together on completing the historical settlement process," said Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Christopher Finlayson. "The settlement process began over 14 years ago. The government is committed to completing this process, with just and durable settlement of historical grievances for the benefit of Maori and all New Zealanders."

"Reaching our aim of settling historical claims by 2014 in a just and durable way depends to a large extent on the relationship between the Crown and Maori," Mr Finlayson said. "There is already shared goodwill and generosity on both sides, and now we are looking at fine-tuning the details of how we work together to achieve that goal."

Government Ministers will begin the dialogue by raising ideas on how to speed the settlement process up. Settling groups will have the opportunity to respond on the proposals and how they think the process can move more quickly on the day and at a follow up meeting in June.

The hui was planned in the wake of Mr Finlayson's hikoi to meet iwi and other claimant groups around the country at the beginning of the year.