April 17, 2017
Paul presses for council deal
Former New Zealand Maori Council co-chair Maanu Paul is calling on other council members to agree to an out of court settlement to his action against chair Sir Taihakurei Durie.
The High Court last week refused Sir Taihakurei’s request to strike out the application for judicial review of whether the April 2016 meeting where he was elected sole chair was properly called.
Mr Paul is also challenging the use of a firm owned Sir Taihakurei’s wife Donna Hall as the council’s lawyers.
Justice Simon France says he was not prepared to strike out the entire proceeding because he was not satisfied the claims are hopeless but he did strike out much of the statement of claim to keep July’s hearing focused on the main issues.
Mr Paul has offered to meet informally with other council members to explore a resolution before the council’s meeting next week.
He says Sir Taihakurei’s interests and those of the council are not one and the same.
Justice France noted that although the action is against both Sir Taihakurei and the Maori council, the council is taking no active role in the defence.
He described that as unusual and unfortunate, and urged it to reconsider.
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