October 11, 2017
Muriwhenua claim may be reopened
There is further delay to a settlement for far north iwi Ngati Kahu after the crown said the Waitangi Tribunal may hear its claims afresh.
A judicial conference was scheduled this week to discuss the next steps in the long-running claim.
But presiding officer Carrie Wainwright says it will be delayed until next month to give claimants a chance to respond to the crown memorandum.
Te Runanga o Ngati Kahu has walked away from the negotiating table and wants the tribunal to make binding recommendations to return crown and former state owned enterprise land blocks in its rohe.
The runanga also objected to the same judge who had turned it down previously continuing to sit on the claim.
The judge said there was no bias, but recused himself anyway, followed by the rest of the panel.
Crown lawyers say they should not have, but now a new panel has been appointed there needs to be a new inquiry, rather than just picking where the previous panel left off.
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