Supreme Court to hear Maori Council water-rights appeal
The question is: Was Justice Ron Young right to dismiss the application?
The New Zealand Maori Council has got leave to appeal its water rights case straight to the Supreme Court for a full-court hearing on January 31 and February 1.
The Supreme Court says the single ground for appeal is whether the High Court and Justice Ron Young were right to dismiss the application for review.
Respondents, including the Attorney-General, finance minister Bill English and state services minister Tony Ryall, have been given until the end of this week to file their case on appeal.
The Maori Council and the Waikato River and Dams Claim Trust have been given until January 18 to file their written submissions on the appeal.
Justice Young released his decision last week, rejecting every part of the application.
He said he was satisfied the Crown’s commencement decision; amendment to the constitution of the Mighty River Power decision; and the sale of Mighty River shares were not reviewable.
He has also found there are no grounds to review the government’s moves to transfer all four state owed enterprises, including Mighty River Power, from an SOE to a mixed ownership model.
Mr Young said there was also no breach of the Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Act 2010 and the sale of shares was not a sale which required the crown to engage with Waikato-Tainui.
Maori Council co-chairman Maanu Paul had always hinted at an appeal, having earlier told NBR ONLINE the issue ought to be appealed to the Supreme Court.
Blair Cunningham
Tue, 18 Dec 2012
Tue, 18 Dec 2012
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Supreme Court to hear Maori Council water-rights appeal
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