Mike Butler: Govt by iwi leaders through Nats

Data obtained under the Official Information Act shows that since November 2008 there have been at least 44 meetings between the former Prime Minister, John Key, the current Prime Minister, Bill English, other senior Ministers, and the Iwi Leaders Group.

Years of positioning for political dominance by the Iwi Leaders Group has materialised in the mana whakahono a rohe/iwi participation clauses in the Resource Legislation Amendment Bill which would entrench co-governance and partnership obligations with iwi Maori into local government, creating an under-the-radar constitutional change.

Mike Butler: Another billion dollar tribe

South Island tribe Ngai Tahu’s 2014 report boasts a net worth of $1.075-billion and distributions of $21.96-million which is 13.6 percent of the tribe’s total net profit of $160.58-million.

Charitable distributions for the 2014 year were grants to: Runanga $5.76-million, healthy environments $7.4-million, marae communities $4-million, natural environment $2.7-million, and education $2.1-million.

Mike Butler: The big land-loss lie

"The big lie" is a propaganda technique. The expression was coined by Adolf Hitler, when he dictated his 1925 book Mein Kampf, about the use of a lie so "colossal" that no one would believe that someone could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Labour Leader David Cunliffe’s new right-hand man, head-kicker-in-chief Matt McCarten, is not above using the big lie technique when talking about treaty settlements. He wrote this commenting on the Ngapuhi suggestion that $600-million would settle their claims:

Senior members of the Iwi Group asked for $600 million to settle Ngapuhi claims - that was careless. Ngapuhi seemed to pluck this figure out of the air with the only justification that their iwi is much bigger than Ngai Tahu and Tainui, who got $170 million. This plays into prejudices these settlements are more about iwi bosses raking in money rather than legitimate compensation for historical theft. In reply, Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson's "pigs might fly" smackdown revealed a cavalier contempt to the process and disrespect to Ngapuhi.

Mike Butler: Tribal charity review needed

Ngai Tahu chair Mark Solomon tried to deflect criticisms of lack of accountability around businesses posing as charities, of individuals being paid too much, and that too little was being distributed. Since the tax tribal corporations are excused paying is enormous, and since there is an expectation in the public's mind that tribal businesses will pay their fair share and compete on a level playing field, a review of the tax treatment of treaty settlements and tribal charitites is urgently needed.

Mike Butler: Tolerating tribal 'charities'

How long will taxpayers tolerate the tax-exempt status of tribal “charities”? Last week Dr Michael Gousmett in his guest column on this site titled “Tax-payer subsidised charities and their business activities - time for change” looked at the operation of three New Zealand taxpayer-subsidised charitable businesses and argued that there was time for change in the tax-exemptions.

Mike Butler: Settlement top-ups for two tribes

Treaty of Waitangi top-up clauses in Waikato-Tainui and Ngai Tahu settlements could be triggered this year, a government spokesman confirmed this week, although the Office of Treaty Settlements said that information on the total value of settlements under the relativity mechanism would not be released “at this time”.

Both Ngai Tahu and Waikato-Tainui negotiated relativity clauses, of the sort that used to characterise union wage negotiations, as part of their original settlements, entitling each iwi to a percentage of all future Treaty settlements once they exceeded $1-billion in 1994 dollar terms.