MEDIA STATEMENT
Ngāti Rārua Iwi Trust
8 March 2013


Ngāti Rārua urge members to have their say

The South Island-based iwi Ngāti Rārua has completed historical Treaty of Waitangi settlement negotiations with the Crown and is now urging its members to have their say.

“The decision on whether or not we accept what the Crown is offering, is now up to our people and I urge them to get in there and have their say,” said Amoroa Luke, chairman for Ngāti Rārua Iwi Trust which has been heading the negotiations on behalf of the iwi since 2005.

“The Crown’s actions and inactions had a devastating impact on our iwi, but we must go forward and it is our Trust’s view that accepting their offer will help us be better and bigger players in the economies of the upper South Island area.

“Our ancestors were deprived of having their say, so it’s important that our people today embrace the opportunity and their right to vote.”

The Trust will be holding information hui in Wairau, Motueka, Christchurch, Te Kuiti and Auckland where it can discuss with iwi members the offer in more detail.

Voting, which opened on Friday (March 1) and closes on March 28, can be cast online, by post, fax or manually at one of the hui.

Voting packs and information booklets about the offer have been sent to all registered iwi members 18 and over.

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