April 11, 2016
NZ Maori Council split in court
The High Court has put a temporary halt to a bid to make Mataatua District Maori Council chair Maanu Paul the sole chair of the New Zealand Maori Council.
A minute issued on Friday by duty judge Justice Karen Clark said no member of the council can claim any authority from decisions made at a meeting at Hoani Waititi Marae in February.
That’s when the Auckland and South Auckland, Taitokerau, Mataatua and Takitimu district councils decided to end the co-chairing arrangement between Mr Paul and retired High Court judge Sir Taihakurei Durie.
The pair have been in conflict for more than a year.
In his application to the court, Sir Taihakurei said it wasn’t a proper council meeting and it didn’t have a quorum.
He says Mr Paul has since got the BNZ to freeze the council’s bank account, attempted to sack its lawyers, and is trying to prevent the council meeting scheduled for April 16, this Saturday.
That puts at risk the years of work that has gone into preparing for claims over Maori rights to water, which are the subject of a Waitangi Tribunal judicial conference on Friday.
Justice Clark says the application for interim orders will be heard on Wednesday.
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