April 26, 2021
Hapu protest Tuhoe "dictatorship"
A Tuhoe kaumātua says last week’s protest against the tribe’s governing body was just a start.
Members of several hapū picketed the Tanetua headquarters of Te Uru Taumatua over a range of grievances including a letter saying hapū would no longer have access to education grants, hunting licences, fish and tents for tangihanga if they withdrew from the board.
Paki Nikora says resentment has been growing over the way chair Tamati Kruger runs the board, including enforcing policies to stop marae and hapū accessing funds from government agencies.
Hapū were incensed at being told they could not access grants from the Provincial Growth Fund to upgrade their marae.
"There was about 23 of them that applied and Mr Kruger tried to close those down. If you want anything done on your private lands in terms of funding assistance, he closes all that, and now he's also now preventing helicopters flying over private land airspace. This proves the sort of dictatorship we are under in that he wants to be the be and all of approving everything," Mr Nikora says.
He says at the same time Te Uru Taumatua is stopping hapū applying for outside grants, it was taking Covid wage subsidies from the crown and seeking funding from departments for its own projects.
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