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July 02, 2015
Ngati Hine tries to check out of Hotel California
Waatea Team
Posted On July 2, 2015
Ngati Hine chair Waihoroi Shortland says it's important to keep hapu within Ngati Hine united against joining Tuhoronuku.
His Ngati Te Tarawa hapu met yesterday to discuss the current elections for hapu kaikorero for the body which has been given the mandate to negotiate a settlement of Ngapuhi claims.
Mr Shortland says it's still trying to undo the damage done last year, when some individuals broke ranks and put themselves up to speak for Ngati Hine on the body.
"It's a little bit like Hotel California, you can book in but you can never leave, and it's got to the stage where it is crown-mandated because it serves the crown's purpose. In Ngati Hine we are not coloured by the fact the minister continues to go on about how so many people in Ngapupuhi are for this thing. The reality is there aren't," he says.
Waihoroi Shortland says the standing down of Ngapuhi chair Sonny Tau as head of Tuhoronuku over the alleged kuukupa-smuggling incident makes no difference to Ngati Hine, because he was not a leader the hapu empowered.
Copyright © 2015, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
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