Mike Butler: How iwi smears ratepayer

When local ratepayer Ivan Howe told the New Plymouth District Council’s new public engagement committee that “you’ve got the iwi coming in here … and they’re giving you advice – and the councillors they don’t know what the iwi’s talking about,” the response was predictable.

According to Te Ao Maori News, which is a part of Maori Television, and which is funded by taxpayers, Howe said: “They’ll tell you what they think, and what they think happened and the councillors [have] got no argument to counter it.”

The Te Ao Maori News story is far from objective reporting. The story exists solely to name and shame a critic of the current treaty and co-governance orthodoxy. Howe also questioned whether Maori are indigenous.

Mike Butler: The Parole Board and Mr Titford

Prisoner Allan Titford’s eighth parole hearing last week involved new Parole Board chair, Judge Doogue, and was covered by a reporter from the New Zealand Herald.

Mr Titford had objected to the presence of a reporter because of expected media hostility, was overruled, and the Herald published Allan Titford’s denied parole amid claims of unfair treatment (yes, that was how it appeared) on August 16, 2025.

Centrist: Ngāpuhi talks face ultimatum as government pushes for single settlement

The government is signalling the clock is ticking on Ngāpuhi Treaty talks, with Treaty Minister Paul Goldsmith warning negotiations “can’t be as long as forever” and should conclude by 2040.

NZ First’s Shane Jones, who is drafting a Member’s Bill to force a single Ngāpuhi settlement, said taxpayers had already spent “well beyond $20 million” and could not afford endless delays.

Peter Williams: Iwi with their hands out before Otago development

No dooey until there’s more hui

The Fast Track Approvals Act is supposed to be a panacea for development. But as Port Otago and a leading logistics company are finding out it is far from smooth sailing because of one issue – the requirement in the Act to consult with iwi, and then to probably to pay them for the privilege.

The story goes like this.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 27/9/23

More “partnerships” (by the look of it) and redress of over $30 million in Treaty settlement with Bay of Plenty tribe

Point of Order has waited until now – 3.45pm – for today’s officially posted government announcements. There have been none.

The only addition to the news on the Beehive’s website was posted later yesterday, after we had published our September 26 Buzz report.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 21/6/23

NZ signs oceans biodiversity treaty, but look at what kaimoana kerfuffle has done for the Kermadec sanctuary proposal

The statements which ministers have not posted are the most newsworthy aspect of the latest news on the government’s official website.

Local Government Minister Kieran McAnulty has not released a statement to say he welcomes (or does not welcome) a report titled He piki tūranga, he piki kōtuku – The future for local government.

Point of Order: Marama Davidson was reminded of the Maori numbers......

......maybe – before admitting mistake about who causes violence

Marama Davidson, Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, has featured in media headlines after being hit by a motorcycle near the scene of the Posie Parker protest and for sharing an inflammatory opinion about the perpetrators of violence.

On The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury reports that Davidson was caught on tape claiming …

Point of Order: Too much fun is coming out of Otago....

.....so the govt has put $2.25m into a trough for other regions to have a lick

It’s a toss-up to decide which is more unnecessary – the investment of $2.25 million of public money in an industry which has almost doubled its revenue over the past year or the drafting and legislating of a bill to have things done that could be done without a statute.

The investment is in the rapidly growing game development sector. The latest data from the New Zealand Game Developers Association shows the total revenue for the industry is $407 million, compared to $276 million a year ago.

Mike Butler: Domestic terrorism at Kaitaia

The hotheads who threatened travellers, blocked flights, and started fires at the Kaitaia airport last week were not protesting, they were repossessing their land, according to Ngati Kahu treaty settlement negotiator Margaret Mutu.(1)

A 28-hour occupation of Kaitaia Airport by Ngati Kahu, which began just before lunchtime on Tuesday, ended at 3pm on Wednesday in a blaze of tyres and five arrests.

Mike Butler: Couple blow treaty cash

Two Tauranga marae trustees admitted stealing at least $20,000 of treaty settlement cash and blowing some of it at casinos - but no-one told police, according to a report in the Sunday Star Times.

The couple have admitted spending the money, meant for renovations at the Waimapu Marae in Tauranga, at SkyCity Casino in Auckland, Riverside Casino in Hamilton and bars around Tauranga.

Mike Butler: Nursing a grudge Tuhoe style

A claim that Crown soldiers threw Tuhoe children into the air and impaled them on bayonets, reported yesterday, offers a glimpse of how Tuhoe have nursed a grudge and how the facts don’t back their beliefs.

Kaumatua Taane Rakuraku “remembered” this story for the benefit of reporter Michael Fox of Stuff news as the Crown prepared to apologise for land confiscations, indiscriminate killings, including of women and children, and scorched-earth warfare. (1)

Mike Butler: Te Kooti cited for more money

Gisborne tribe Te Aitanga A Mahaki expects a settlement of up to $120-million for their grievance resulting from past association with the murderous Te Kooti Rikirangi, a guerrilla leader who fought against the government, and Maori loyal to the government, in the 1860s and lost.

The Te Aitanga A Mahaki Trust held mandate meetings over the past two months resulting in a claimed 96.8 percent vote of support although the trust’s website says the voter return was 23.3 percent being 1213 of the 5207 eligible electors.(1)

Mike Butler: Campbell Live PR job for Ngapuhi

TV3 presenter John Campbell told his audience last week that he felt slightly ashamed admitting that he didn't know much about Northland tribe Ngapuhi and their mega treaty payout expectations, so he grabbed his microphone and cameraman and went north to learn. Sadly, all he revealed little more than we already knew. Chief Ngapuhi claimant Sonny Tau was first to speak:

Campbell: How much land did Ngapuhi lose?

Tau: We lost by dubious means 2.1-million acres of land

Firstly, why did Campbell and Tau use the word “lose”? The word "lose" means "be deprived of or cease to have or retain". Both Campbell and Tau used the words “lose” or “lost” in the sense that the Maori Anglican minister used it in a sermon on Waitangi Day last year. He said: “The missionaries taught us to pray and when we opened our eyes all our land was gone”. Campbell and Tau should be a bit more honest and say Ngapuhi sold most land in the area claimed as Ngapuhi tribal district.

Mike Butler: Deal divides Blenheim community

A High Court ruling a week ago over Blenheim land that was compulsorily purchased by the government under the Public Works Act from a settler family that is to be sold to a tribe as part of a treaty settlement shows how the treaty settlements process divides a community.

The Fairhall family who began farming in Woodbourne in 1885 had a large part of their land taken to build RNZAF Base Woodbourne in 1939, and another part in 1947.

Mike Butler: Ngapuhi dollar amount declines

The dollar amount for any Ngapuhi settlement is declining after a prediction yesterday from Labour MP Shane Jones that the government offer would be $250-million -- when the total demanded by claimants on Waitangi Day was up to $600-million.(1) From the Far North, Jones is of Te Aupouri and Ngai Takoto descent, as well as having Croatian, Welsh and English ancestry. Both Te Aupouri and Ngai Takoto have signed deeds of settlement. Jones even worked out for Ngapuhi the amount they would lose each year by not settling.

Without the Waitangi Tribunal's tortured arguments, the Ngapuhi claim for such a vast sum of taxpayers money cannot be justified. Note also that this claim is being negotiated before the Waitangi Tribunal has completed its inquiry into Ngapuhi claims. The government has made a decision without regarding the inquiry.

Mike Butler: Pauanui opposes reserve giveaway

Residents of the small Coromandel town of Pauanui are upset that the beachfront strip of land that encircles their town has been offered as part of a settlement to local treaty claimants, Ngati Hei. Pauanui, located just over 40km south of Whitianga, is a popular destination for Auckland holidaymakers in the summer, when the town’s population swells from 740 to 15,000.

The Pauanui Ratepayer and Residents Association said that government treaty negotiator Mike Dreaver, with co-operation from the Thames Coromandel District Council, had offered Ngati Hei sites including the entire Pauanui beachfront reserve and Estuary reserve, effectively “ring fencing” Pauanui from the water.