April 29, 2022
Court case walk comes up short for Whātua
Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei is considering whether to appeal a High Court judgment on cross-claims in Tāmaki Makaurau.
Vice-chairperson Ngarimu Blair says the hapū did not get the definitive statement it hoped for that the crown had to acknowledge Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei as the mana whenua of central Auckland.
The hapū emphasised its case by walking to the court yesterday from Ōrākei marae to hear the judgment from Justice Matthew Palmer, on the way passing two sites the crown has earmarked for settlements with what Mr Blair calls Thames-based tribes.
“And really that was to show that despite the law and the crown’s refusal to observe tikanga Māori and tikanga Ngāti Whātua in our heartland, it’s pretty obvious who the mana whenua are here. It’s the iwi who can walk past those two sites on their way to court in a little under an hour, not the iwi who would take two and a half days to walk there,” Mr Blair says.
He says Ngāti Whātua has set aside resources to fight for its land and to hold the crown to account, so anyone who wants to try it on in Tāmaki Makaurau will be battered and bruised.