October 03, 2025

Cleared but Still Criminalised – What the Crown Said and How They Came at Māori.

Claudette Hauiti Posted On October 3, 2025

#Whai Whakaaro, Claudette Hauiti

Cleared but Still Criminalised - What the Crown Said and How They Came at Māori

This is the first of a three-part commentary into the false allegations of information misuse levelled at Manurewa Marae in South Auckland following the 2023 elections.

Whai Whakaaro: Claudette Hauiti

In June 2024, Police opened an investigation into Manurewa Marae after media reports claimed census forms, Covid vaccination records, and kai packs were misused to help Te Pāti Māori during the election. The Serious Fraud Office, Public Service Commission, Stats NZ, and the Privacy Commissioner were all pulled in. For sixteen months the marae sat under suspicion. This week, the inquiry delivered its answer.

Sixteen months. Can you believe it? File after file, rumour after rumour, agencies tripping over each other. And after all that? Nothing. Zero. No fraud, no corruption, no case.

So why was Manurewa Marae dragged through it in the first place? Let’s talk about that.

The cops kicked it off. Commissioner Richard Chambers running the show. June 2024, they start chasing whispers. “The marae copied 1,400 census forms.” “They used Covid records.” “They bribed voters with kai packs.” You know the drill.

And yesterday? Their words: “There is insufficient evidence to establish criminal culpability for corruption in relation to the Manurewa Marae matter.” Insufficient evidence. In plain speak: they had nothing. Not even enough to go for a search warrant.

So they flicked the file over to the Serious Fraud Office. Karen Chang’s mob. Big title – corruption cops. They combed it too. Their words: “Insufficient grounds to initiate a criminal investigation into serious or complex fraud, including corruption offences.” Which is a long way of saying: don’t waste our time, there’s no case here.

Meanwhile, the Public Service Commission decided to “review” things. Sir Brian Roche. Big boss. Their job is to keep an eye on the state sector. Their finding? “Agencies failed to implement safeguards and rules for ensuring personal information was protected.” Translation: the Crown stuffed up. Not the Marae.

And don’t forget Stats NZ. Mark Sowden – the Government Statistician. February 2025, fronting up red-faced: “We apologise for failing to keep New Zealanders’ information safe.” Same day? He resigned. He didn’t fall on his sword – it was thrust into him from point blank range. Out the door.

The Privacy Commissioner, Michael Webster, still poking around with a privacy inquiry. Nothing sticking to Manurewa Marae though. Was never going to.

So what really happened? Let’s call it what it is. The Police chased ghosts. Spent a year turning over stones, found nothing under any of them. The SFO had a look, came up empty. PSC checked the system, found the Crown asleep at the wheel. Stats NZ – forced to say sorry.

That’s the record. That’s it. That’s all they’ve got.

And yet – where are the headlines? Where’s “Marae Cleared” across the front page? Where’s “Crown Agencies Failed” blasting on the 6pm news?

Nowhere. Not a whisper. Instead, the Pākehā press is all about Toitū and Te Pāti Māori falling out. That’s juicier, right? That’s the distraction. That’s their excuse to bury a Māori vindication.

Let’s be straight. Manurewa Marae was never convicted in court. It was convicted in the media. On talkback. In the whisper networks. Dragged for over a year.

That’s trial by process. Trial by Crown. Trial by headline.
And even cleared, they’re still treated like suspects. That’s not equity, balance, fairness – all the wonderful media standards.

Inside the Marae though it’s different. Mana holds. Whakapapa carries. Kaupapa rolls on.

And Takutai Tarsh Kemp, Manurewa Marae was her manawa her kainga. She was the at the centre of the allegations. Her mana is untouched. Say her name and we think of service, aroha, leadership. Not scandal. Never scandal. She carried her people. She never bowed.

The Crown failed. She didn’t.

So where does this leave us? With a pattern. Same old playbook. Same outcome. We’ll lay this alongside the Whānau Ora inquiry – and the picture’s clear.

So here’s the pātai whānau – If the Crown says “no evidence, no case” – who’s going to say sorry, we got it wrong, again!

Later: In part two of this commentary: “The Allegation – Why Was Manurewa Marae Targeted?” we take at look at where the false allegations came from and how media fueled the frenzy. Part three:
“Witch-Hunts in Plain Sight- Holding the Crown to Account”