October 07, 2012
Iwi snub in Rena deal upsets Sharples
Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples is upset the Government has cut a deal with the owners of the Rena without involving iwi whose fisheries were devastated by the grounding of the ship a year ago.
The deal will only cover some of the costs incurred by Crown agencies, and included an option for the owners to leave some of the hull on the Astrolabe reef if they pay a further sum.
Dr Sharples says that’s not what the Maori Party was pushing for.
“Right at the offset Maori were right out at Motiti Island, on the beach and without help have got to the top table and were part of the top table making decisions, so in some ways the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and Maori have been left out of this decision. The amount of money to accept and the option of leaving (the hull) or taking it, they have not been part of those talks and I think that it is really not on,” he says.
Dr Sharples says signing accords with tribes, as the government did with tribes in Tauranga Moana, doesn’t mean only consulting when it suits.