Press Release from New Zealand Maori Council
The New Zealand Maori Council is considering the decision issued by Justice Young today.
The matter has been determined on a narrow legal issue. The moral issue has still be to addressed in public debate.
The Court has taken a particular view of the statutory framework to say that the government decision was not one that
the Courts could review. The Council’s concern is that government has not been willing to address the issue of
indigenous water rights, as the Court itself noted, and has relied upon statutory technicalities; but in this instance
we think that the view taken about the statutory framework does not fit with previous court decisions and we are now
working on an appeal.
[ENDS]