March 06, 2015
Rei unhappy with fish review fairness
The chair of Te Ohu Kaimoana says the recommendations of a review of Maori fisheries settlement structures don’t fall fairly across all iwi.
Wellington barrister Tim Castle has recommended the Maori fisheries settlement trust and its assets, including the voting shares in pan-Maori fishing company Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd, be distributed to iwi.
He also wants the ban on iwi selling their fisheries settlement assets to be lifted.
Matiu Rei says Te Ohu Kaimoana is preparing its response, and then the recommendations will be voted on by the 57 settlement iwi.
He says iwi need to weigh up what’s in it for them and for Maoridom as a whole.
"So if you’re a large iwi with a large settlement you will benefit more than small iwi whose situation might worsen. But all that needs to be addressed later on to see what the views of each iwi are and that will come when the special general meeting his held in the next sixty working days," Mr Rei says.
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