Ngāti Whātua takes tikanga issue to court

Monday, 14 May 2018

A Supreme Court case began on Monday where iwi Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei put a case forward that tikanga and culture are being diminished by government decision-making.

Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei has put a case forward in the Supreme Court that tikanga and culture are being diminished by government decision-making.

Māori TV said the iwi believed the Crown has ignored the role of hapū as mana whenua in central Auckland.

The iwi said this should have been a consideration when the Crown developed the Marutūahu Collective settlement deals.

Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei spokesperson Ngarimu Blair says the iwi wants to test the extent of its rights in court.

'We want to test the extent of our legal rights in the High Court,' Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei spokesperson Ngarimu Blair told Māori TV on Monday.

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'Legal rights which we claim exist, and which we thought were protected when we settled with the Crown in 2012 with our Treaty grievances over Auckland.

'We're wanting to have that substantive claim and for the government to weigh the interest of iwi who claim whenua.'