December 22, 2014
Auckland iwi fight back over court drubbing
The body that picks members for Auckland’s Independent Maori Statutory Board is appealing an order that it redo its selection for one of the two mataawaka seats.
Urban Maori advocate Willie Jackson sought a judicial review of how the body, which only includes representatives of the mana whenua iwi, picked who should represent Maori whose iwi is outside the supercity boundaries.
In a judgment delivered last month, Justice Duffy agreed with Mr Jackson’s contention that the way the body decided Tony Kake should get a second term on the board fell short of the legal requirement that it take into account the views of mataawaka.
The court found information had been tabled at the meeting, and then the body broke for lunch with no discussion about merits of the eight candidates.
Mr Jackson included a curriculum vitae and letters of support from nine different mataawaka groups in Auckland, while Mr Kake provided no supporting evidence from mataawaka with his nomination form.
Members cast secret ballots during the 30-minute adjournment, and the results were announced immediately after lunch.
Justice Duffy said that wasn’t good enough,
Mr Kake’s appointment was set aside, and the process needed to be run again in accordance with the law as he found it to be.
The selection body says the judge got it wrong about the selection process and whether it had enough information about mataawaka support for Mr Kake.
He also breached natural justice by refusing to let selection body members give extra evidence during the review.
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