The Settlement Process

There are four key stages in a Treaty settlement.

STAGE ONE: Pre-negotiation

The claimant group chooses people to represent them in negotiations. This involves:

  • Mandating process – the claimants vote on the entity that will represent them in negotiations (COMPLETE)
  • Signing the Deed of Mandate – the Crown must recognise the mandate before negotiations begin (COMPLETE)
  • Choosing negotiators – the mandated group decides which individuals will lead its negotiations (COMPLETE)
  • Signing Terms of Negotiation – between the Crown and the mandated representatives (COMPLETE)

STAGE TWO: Negotiation

The representatives and the Crown negotiate the settlement. This involves key milestones along the way:

  • Signing an Agreement in Principle (AIP) – the framework for the settlement (COMPLETE)

  • Ratification process – voting on the Post-Settlement Governance Entity PSGE (COMPLETE)

  • Initialling a Deed of Settlement (iDOS) – the draft content of the settlement

  • Ratification process – voting on the proposed Deed of Settlement. The claimant group must agree to the proposed settlement before moving to the next stage. The Crown decides if the ratification voting shows ‘sufficient support’ for the settlement to go ahead.

STAGE THREE: Legislation

If ‘sufficient support’ is received, the settlement goes through the law-making process. The process is:

  • The settlement is introduced to Parliament as a Bill
  • The Bill goes to the Māori Affairs Select Committee and is open for public submissions
  • The Bill goes through the Second and Third Readings in Parliament, and receives the Royal Assent, becoming law (the Settlement Act)
  • The claimant group receives a letter confirming that the settlement has been made law and is complete

STAGE FOUR: Implementation

The Crown and the claimant group work together to make sure everything agreed in the Deed of Settlement happens.
This includes:

  • Final steps in the set up of the Post-Settlement Governance Entity (PSGE) and Trust Deed, and the election of trustees (usually while the legislation stage is underway)
  • The redress package is transferred to the PSGE within an agreed amount of time, usually 40 working days after the settlement becomes law
  • All other arrangements detailed in the agreement are implemented

Steps taken by Te Mana

Ngāti Rangitihi is seeking redress from the Crown for breaches of guarantees set out in the Treaty of Waitangi.

What can we expect from a Comprehensive Settlement with the Crown?

  • An apology and acknowledgement
  • Financial ($) and/or commercial (crown assets) redress – also known as ‘quantum’
  • Cultural redress – relates to sites of significance for iwi and redress might include the return of sites to iwi

What steps has Te Mana taken in the settlement process?

  1. Te Mana was established in 2008 as the post-settlement governance entity representing Ngāti Rangitihi in the CNI Settlement and Mana Whenua Settlement processes. It was mandated by the iwi for this purpose.
  2. As a large natural grouping of Ngāti Rangitihi, with over 4,000 registered members, Te Mana approached the Crown in 2010 to begin the process of seeking a further mandate from its iwi to represent them in Comprehensive Settlement negotiations with the Crown.
  3. Te Mana followed the Office of Treaty Settlements process and gained Crown approval for its Mandate Strategy in September 2013.
  4. In June 2014 Te Mana received a 77% approval rate from the iwi to enter direct negotiations with the Crown. Te Mana then forwarded a Deed of Mandate to the Crown for ministerial recognition.
  5. The Crown recognised Te Mana’s mandate in June 2015 and approved Terms of Negotiation in November 2015. Te Mana has since been in direct negotiations with the Crown.
  6. Te Mana has developed a Comprehensive Settlement Redress package and submitted this to the Crown in August 2016.
  7. On 22 December 2018, Te Mana signed the Agreement in Principle with the Crown, and negotitaions continue towards a Deed of Settlement.
  8. A Crown-required ratification process was held in June and July 2019 to approve the new Te Mana Post-Settlement Governance Entity and Trust Deed (new Te Mana o Ngāti Rangitihi Trust) which would receive the settlement redress once the Deed of Settlement is ratified in 2020. Voting results were announced on 12 July, with 92.16% of valid votes cast supporting the establishment of a new Te Mana o Ngāti Rangitihi PSGE and Trust Deed. On 28 August 2019, the Ministers approved the voting results. The new Te Mana PSGE was formally established on 1 October 2019 following 86% approval from adult registered members who attended the Special General Meeting on 29 September to transfer old Te Mana assets to the new Te Mana Post-Settlement Governance Entity (PSGE) and dissolving the existing Te Mana o Ngāti Rangitihi Trust.
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