Michael Bassett - Iwi bandits

Iwi Bandits Michael Bassett Recently, I wrote about the games that Maori iwi are playing with local authorities as they seek to extort money from councils by using their versions of Treaty obligations. It turns out that the scene is much worse than I first thought. Several informants have given me chapter and verse about stand-over tactics being used to extort money from councils, and therefore from ratepayers. Many local authorities have a form of joint management agreement with their local iwi. These days most iwi representatives turn up to meetings looking for points of leverage with their councils. They want Maori representation on all council-controlled organisations so they can work out the points at which pressure can be applied to channel money from local ratepayers towards the Maori aristocracy. They use a perverted version of Article 2 of the Treaty which guaranteed chiefs control over their lands, while failing to acknowledge that any rights went if the land was sold. They play their cards cautiously, but firmly. Realising that if their demands were put to a local referendum they would almost certainly lose, they apply pressure to mayors, councillors and oFicials in the hope that the councils won’t want unpleasantness, nor the expense of referenda, and will just pay up. Waikato-Tainui’s pressure on Auckland’s Watercare for an increase in the levy paid for water from the Waikato river is a case in point. The public wasn’t told what was proposed, nor how much was being demanded until the increase had been agreed. Another shocking case I’ve been told about involved a bridge which a council wanted to construct. “No” said the iwi. “The ancestors of Maori in the area are buried where the bridge foundations are planned to go”. When the council pulled back, the iwi followed up with an oFer: Maori would overlook the insult to the burial place of their tipuna if the council agreed to pay the tribe lots of money. This is not an isolated case. If councils in this situation still don’t pay up, there are threats; in some cases, legal action is taken on the grounds that the ancestors’ bones are sacred. But, as you get the drift, the ancestors’ remains can be negotiable if cash can be extorted by their descendants. Cultural reports are regularly sought if any new development is contemplated. I’ve heard of several demands in the South Island, and I’ve been told of a similar case in Tauranga. These days, iwi seem to have a standard “report” on their computers which they tweak slightly each time a report is needed so that it applies to the new case. The iwi then sets the price. It’s becoming quite a profitable business. This kind of stand-over tactic uses up oFicials’ time and, if settled, can be costly. As we know, development in New Zealand is expensive compared with other countries, and the greasing of palms using bogus Treaty claims only adds more to the total cost of any