Urban Maori, Fisheries Commission to work together after court ruling

National Urban Māori representative John Tamihere says the group wants to work with Te Ohu Kaimoana, the Māori Fisheries Commission, after the High Court at Wellington ruled the commission's appointment of iwi-affiliated directors to the board of a trust set up for urban Māori was incorrect.

The National Urban Māori Authority (NUMA) and Te Waipareira Trust succeeded in their claim over the $20 million Te Putea Whakatupu Trust and all directors must represent Māori who are not affiliated with an iwi.

The trust was set up under the 2004 Māori Fisheries Act as part of the settlement of Māori fishing rights claims to provide for urban Māori who don't benefit from iwi-based settlements because they don't have an active association with a tribe.

Te Ohu Kaimoana has welcomed the judgment, which "clarifies legislative ambiguity relating to the criteria for appointment of directors and it will follow the court's interpretation when making future appointments."

"Te Ohu will look at how it will re-engage with urban Māori groups in respect of the proposed changes and these issues will be worked through in the coming weeks," it says.

Justice Simon France also ruled that while urban Māori weren't given enough say last year on proposed changes to the trust, a resolution to increase the trust's directors to five from three won't be quashed, and will be passed on to the primary industries minister for consideration.

Mr Tamihere, who was the only one of the trust's three directors affiliated with urban Māori, says the commission has been given "quite clear and compelling directions" by the court, and urban Māori were looking to make progress.

"The chairman of the National Urban Māori Authority has reached out to the Fisheries Commission to say look, on the back of this judgment do you want to get around the table and have a discussion about how we proceed to appoint five directors," Mr Tamihere says.

"I've dealt with people that have ground down others in their communities to seize control of the chequebook and so they endeavour to use the same methodology when you upgrade the conversation and those tools don't really work here. We don't know whether there will be games again or whether there might be a good discussion on hand."

Mr Tamihere says he isn't sure whether Te Ohu Kaimoana will try to appeal the court's decision, but the commission ran the risk of getting a worse result if it did.

(BusinessDesk)

Get full access to the NBR Rich List 2016, released July 28, by claiming your free 30-day trial to NBR ONLINE premium content at NBR.co.nz/free