3 May 2002 Media Release

Research Facilitation

Media coverage of Treaty settlements often overlooks the importance of claimants being well organised to participate in Waitangi Tribunal hearings or claim settlements, says the Service Delivery Manager of the Crown Forestry Rental Trust, Ben Dalton.

“Claims have to be prepared, and so do the people,” he said.

“The Trust commissions and funds around 80 percent of the research needed to prepare claims to the Tribunal. The Tribunal regularly compliments the Trust on the quality of the claimants’ research.

“The Trust also provides a lot of support directly to claimant groups. This is so claim leaders and negotiators can keep their people informed and involved, which enables the people to support their leaders, and helps claimant groups to co-operate rather than compete with each other.

“The question of which leaders represent which communities is a critical issue in settlement negotiations. If the question is asked too late in the process, it can become impossible to answer.

“The Trust works hard at helping Māori communities work through these issues. They are pretty complex. Most media find Māori leadership issues too hard to understand, and dismiss them as cross-claims or grandstanding.

“The work the trust does in the background, to enable Tribunal hearings to proceed in an orderly way, is often overlooked,” said Mr Dalton.