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The chair of the Waikato Tainui tribal executive, Rahui Papa, says Solid Energy is trying to ignore history.
Te Arataura is seeking a judicial review of the state owned company's decision to sell land around its coalmines at Huntly.
Mr Papa says the company has farms and forests in the raupatu area that the tribe wants to buy at fair market value.
They should be covered by the right of first refusal that was part of the treaty settlements, but the Solid Energy Board has instead tried to go to an open market bidding process to crank up the price.
"We think that we have a very strong case becuase in 1989 Sir Robert Mahuta took ECNZ, Electricorp at that time, to the Appeal Court over the sell down of Coal Corp stated owned enterprise asserts in the same area and now almost 30 years later we are back in the same position," Mr Papa says.
The Waikato Tainui Raupatu settlement represented less than 2 percent of the value of what was lost, so the right of first refusal process for surplus crown land is an important mechanism to make up some of the difference.
Copyright © 2016, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
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