Parliament has a duty to address the concerns of two East Coast tribal groups which do not want to be part of the Tuhoe settlement, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says.
The High Court has ruled that the Waitangi Tribunal does not have the jurisdiction to refuse to hear the claims of Te Upokorehe and Ngati Ruapani under urgency.
New Zealand First was the party was the only one to oppose the Tuhoe settlement legislation in its second reading in Parliament last month.
Mr Peters said boundary issues were being improperly dealt with in the bill and that he was disturbed other parties had ignored legitimate iwi concerns. National MPs who scoffed at his suggestions should publicly apologise, in light of the High Court ruling.
Mr Peters said while he recognised Tuhoe's grievances, Parliament must not attempt to correct a long-standing wrong by creating another wrong.
