November 21, 2022
League final shows gap in Māori option
Former Māori Rugby League chair John Tamihere says the success of Toa Samoa in the Rugby League World Cup shows why he’s suing the code’s administrators here.
He has asked the High Court to rule that New Zealand Māori Rugby League has acted unconstitutionally and breached the Treaty of Waitangi in its failure to develop pathways for talented Māori and Pasifika youth.
He says Samoans playing in other countries can get selected for that country or go back to play for Toa Samoa, while their Māori team mates don’t have a Māori team in the competition.
“Our Māori boy’s got no choice and that’s the choice we’re missing and it’s just a straight right under our treaty entitlements but if you don’t protest for it, you don’t advocate for it, you don’t assert it, you never get it,” he says.
The statement of claim filed in the Hamilton High Court by Mr Tamihere along with former Warriors coach Tony Kemp, Auckland Māori Rugby League chair Greg Whaiapu and former MP and Taitokerau Rugby League chair Hone Harawira alleges Māori Rugby League has been run by three people for the last 15 years who won’t call AGMs.
Toa Samoa went down 30-10 to Australia in Manchester early Sunday morning Apia time, but it didn’t stop fans here celebrating their team had got into the final for the first time.