Under no circumstances whatsoever should the Waikato tribe – or any tribe – hold to ransom a third of the country's population, Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones told a select committee on Thursday.

Wealthy tribe Waikato-Tainui may buy disputed land at Ihumatao from Fletchers for around $39-million, according to NewsHub.[1]

The prospect of an iwi role emerged when former Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson said protest leader Pania Newton’s march on Thursday should be south to meet Tainui, instead of to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s office in Mount Albert.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s apparent inability to say what Articles one and two of the Treaty of Waitangi said serves as a timely reminder about the simple contents of the Treaty.

A new School Journal comic book aimed at 10- to 12-year-olds with a Year 6 reading level shows indoctrination about the Treaty of Waitangi in action.  

Two iwi have quietly been paid huge top-ups, totalling $370 million, to their supposed "full and final" Treaty of Waitangi settlements, Stuff reported today. Waikato-Tainui received $190 million and the South Island's Ngai Tahu $180 million – more than they originally settled for in 1995 and 1998, respectively.

Waikato-Tainui would be a bit more guarded in gloating about their “record year of results and growth” if they knew what New Zealanders think about their tax-exempt status, Hobson’s Pledge spokesman Don Brash said today.