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A member of Motiti Island’s Ngai Te Hapu says an application for a customary marine title to Otaiti-Astrolabe Reef is a grab for money from the Rena owners and insurers.
Ngai Te Hapu is listed among the groups on the application, but Buddy Mikaere says it’s not authorised by those living on the island off the coast from Tauranga.
He says some of the hapu named don’t exist any more, and those driving the application are hapu and iwi organisations who have already made a deal with the owners and insurers.
He says if their application is successful the Rohe Moana Trust gets a major say in any environmental consents, including whether what’s left of the grounded cargo ship stays on the reef.
"We, Ngai Te Hapu along with several of the other people purportedly named in that document are totally opposed to that, we still want to see full wreck removal. It's alot to do with politics it's alot to do with money, it's alot to do with people willing to sell off their cultural integrity," says Buddy Mikaere.
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