Waikato-Tainui is in line to receive millions in additional Treaty settlement redress in the wake of yesterday's milestone agreement with Tuhoe.

Tainui and South Island tribe Ngai Tahu each have a relativity clause in their settlements, which were signed by the government in 1995, giving them an opportunity for further redress should total settlements exceed $1 billion.

The Waikato Times reported in November last year that settlements were at $901 million. The Tuhoe settlement confirmed yesterday is worth $170m.

A spokesman for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson said it was now "quite possible" the threshold would be reached this year.

Formal notification of the relativity mechanism triggering occurs in the October following the end of the financial year in which total value of settlements has reached $1b in 1994 "present value terms". The spokesman for the minister said notification was regarded as commercial and in-confidence because it was a contractual requirement of the settlements.

The heads of agreement with Tuhoe announced yesterday were a high-level agreement and negotiations on the details of the deal are continuing. Settlements don't count towards the relativity mechanism until a deed of settlement is initialled, which it is understood could happen later this year.

The clauses ensure that Waikato-Tainui and Ngai Tahu receive additional redress when the total value of all settlements reaches $1 billion in 1994 terms. At that point, payments would be made to maintain the value of their two settlements at 17 per cent and 16.1 per cent respectively of total settlements by the Crown.

Effectively that means for every additional $100m of settlement beyond the threshold, the two tribes will be paid another $17m and $16.1m respectively.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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