Treaty of Waitangi Claims and Settlements - Settlements of The 2000s

Settlements of The 2000s

The process of negotiating historical claims continued after the 1999 election and the subsequent change in government without radical change to government policy. The models developed for the early settlements remain a strong influence. The first Labour Minister of Treaty Negotiations was Margaret Wilson. On her appointment as Speaker of the House in early 2005, she was followed in the role by Mark Burton. He was replaced by Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen in November 2007.

In June 2008, the Crown and representatives from seven Maori tribes signed an agreement relating to Crown forest land that was dubbed "Treelords" by the media, because of perceived similarities to the Sealord deal of the 1990s. Like Sealord, it relates to a single issue, but covers multiple tribes. The agreement contains only financial redress, on account against comprehensive settlements to be negotiated with each tribe within the Collective. The agreement is the largest to date, by financial value, at NZ$196 million worth of forest land in total (including the value of the Affiliate Te Arawa Iwi and Hapu share). In addition, but not counted by the government as part of the redress package, the tribes will receive rentals that have accumulated on the land since 1989, valued at NZ$223 million.

As at July 2008, there have been 23 settlements (counting the above) of various sizes. Except as noted above, settlements generally include financial redress, a formal Crown apology for breaches of the Treaty, and recognition of the group's cultural associations with various sites.

In November 2008, Chris Finlayson, a Wellington based lawyer with experience in Treaty claims, was appointed Minister for Treaty Negotiations following the National Party victory in the 2008 election.

As well as the much publicized land and financial compensation, many of these later settlements included changing the official placenames. This has introduced significant numbers of macrons into official New Zealand placenames for the first time.