Judicial Review proceedings were filed today by the Ngāti Pāoa Trust Board against Auckland Council and others in an attempt to seek justice for Ngāti Pāoa after years of alleged unlawful conduct by Auckland Council against Ngāti Pāoa. The Trust Board is represented by Karen Feint QC in its judicial review application.

At the heart of the Trust Board’s claim is Auckland Council’s decision from late 2013 to refuse to recognise the Trust Board’s mandate to represent Ngāti Pāoa in respect of Resource Management Act (RMA) matters. The mandate had been given to the Trust Board by the iwi of Ngāti Pāoa in 2009, and was also the subject of a section 30 determination and order by the Maori Land Court confirming the Trust Board was the appropriate representative for Ngāti Pāoa in relation to RMA and local government matters (MLC Order). Despite the MLC Order, over a five year period Auckland Council refused to comply with the MLC Order or to recognise the Trust Board’s mandate.

In a recent 2020 decision of the Māori Appellate Court, the specialist court held that the Auckland Council had acted unlawfully in failing to comply with the MLC Order. The matter now heads to the High Court, with the Trust Board arguing that Ngāti Pāoa have been wrongfully silenced by the Council and have suffered significant loss and damage, including damage to the mana of Ngāti Pāoa and its kaitiakitanga and rangitiratanga.

Trust Board Co-Chair, Danella Roebeck says:

“Today the Trust Board on behalf of Ngāti Pāoa is saying enough is enough to Auckland Council. For years we have asked Auckland Council to acknowledge and remedy the wrongs it has committed against the Trust Board and our iwi - and all we got back was a stone cold ‘kao’ from Auckland Council. You have hurt us, you have harmed us, Māori will no longer sit back and have our mana trampled on. The Māori Appellate Court has already found that Auckland Council acted unlawfully, and now we go to the High Court to start the healing process for our iwi.”

One consequence of Auckland Council’s unlawful conduct is that the Trust Board was not notified of the Kennedy Point Marina resource consent application at Waiheke, and therefore was not able to oppose the application on behalf of Ngāti Pāoa, as it would have.

“Colonisation and the Crown’s breaches under Te Tiriti o Waitangi have dispossessed Ngāti Pāoa from our ancestral lands on Waiheke Island. Therefore it is even more important today than ever before for us to have a say on commercial developments at Waiheke that propose to desecrate our ancestral whenua and moana and harm our cultural heritage and values once again. Pūtiki Bay is the site of a very significant Ngāti Pāoa pā, Te Pūtiki o Kahu.

Ngāti Pāoa are strongly opposed to the Kennedy Point Marina - spiritually and culturally the marina poses an unacceptable risk to the health and mauri (well-being) of the moana. If Council had notified us as it was obliged to, our voice would have been heard when the application was submitted and the marina would never have been allowed to go ahead. Ngāti Pāoa will make sure our voice is heard today and that we are no longer silenced. The mauri of Pūtiki Bay is suffering, the Kororā (Little Blue Penguins) which inhabit Kennedy Point are already being harmed and threatened by the marina construction, as kaitiaki we can’t allow this harm to be inflicted upon the moana and upon our iwi”. says Ms Roebeck

As well as Auckland Council, marina developer Kennedy Point Boat Harbour Limited (KPBL) and the Environment Court are also listed as respondent on the Judicial Review application. The High Court challenge to the marina resource consent is the first direct application by Ngāti Pāoa to challenge the grant of resource consent to the marina. It follows over 5 years of litigation by other community and environmental groups who have been opposed to the Kennedy Point marina. There has also been a Māori and community led occupation at Kennedy Point Bay since the start of construction in March this year, aimed at protecting the at-risk and in-decline Little Penguin who habitat Kennedy Point.

In another matter currently before the Environment Court, leading expert penguin biologist Dr Hiltrun Ratz and Professor John Cockrem have advised the Court that the marina construction has already had adverse impacts on the at-risk taonga species who are currently in breeding and therefore at their most vulnerable life stage.

As well as seeking to overturn the marina consent, the Trust Board is also seeking damages from Auckland Council. Given the urgency of the matter the Trust Board has asked the High Court to give the matter priority as any further construction works pose an unacceptable risk to Ngāti Pāoa, the Little Penguin and other taonga species.

i whawhai matou mo te iwi a inaianei kei te whawhai taatau

mo te kaitiakitanga hei tangata whenua

© Scoop Media