August 08, 2014
No consultation in Rena back-down
A spokesperson for Motiti Island hapu is rejecting the Government’s claim it took principles of the Treaty of Waitangi into account in its new position on the Rena wreck.
Attorney General Christopher Finlayson today released a whole of government submission to the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, which is considering an application from the Rena’s owners to leave what’s left of the stricken cargo ship on Otaiti-Astrolabe reef.
The Government says it wants the salvors to take away everything up to 30 metres deep, but below that depth it could be left if stricter monitoring were in place.
Rangi Butler says Motiti Island residents want nothing less than full removal of the wreck, as was originally promised.
She says the crown has failed to show concern for the environment or for the long term effects of the wreck on tangata whenua.
"If their heart was truly in it they would be consulting with their partner, which is Maori. But they haven't to this day, especially with the people, the hapu of Motiti Island, where I live. They have bypassed us," she says.
Rangi Butler says there has been no action on a Waitangi Tribunal recommendation that mana whenua groups get financial help to prepare their own submissions to the resource consent process.
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