Aotea iwi link dredging to dumping in port battle

Waatea Team Aotea iwi link dredging to dumping in port battle

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Iwi connected with Aotea-Great Barrier have been back in court trying to block a Ports of Auckland consent to dredge shipping channels.

Kelly Klink from Protect Aotea says the port has approval from the Environment Protection Agency to dump sediment in a non-notified site near the Cuvier Islands southeast of Aotea.

Iwi elders told the court the dredging shouldn't be separated from the dumping by legal sleight of hand.

"What happens in the moana isn't isolated. It does move around. The current does shift that paru around. Even though it is, as they determine it, way out, that doesn't negate that we still have the kōrero and we still have the traditions of us being in those areas for fishing and the whanaungatanga that comes with the marine life out there," Ms Klink says.

She was concerned submissions made to the court by the non-Māori Protect Our Gulf group strayed from environmental concerns and purported to be speaking for mana whenua.

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