Gaffe by M.P. over (un)forced sale

Press, 30 January 1986, Page 9

Gaffe by M.P. over (un)forced sale

PA Wellington The member of Parliament for Eastern Maori, Mr Peter Tapsell, erred on Monday when he attacked what he called the “forced” sale of a block of ancestral Maori land in the Bay of Islands. Mr Tapsell, who is also Minister of Internal Affairs, called the sale a “national disgrace.” He said the 29ha Paroa Bay headland block near Russell, estimated to be worth up to $2 million, was sold under a court order at auction for only $580,000. "Everyone involved with the deal ought to hang their heads in shame,” he said. Later in the day, however, Mr Tapsell issued

another statement saying it was not, as he had understood, a forced sale. “Unfortunately I misinterpreted the report of the sale, thinking that the land had been forcibly sold under a rating order,” he said. "I am still, however, very disappointed to find a piece of valuable ancestral Maori land sold, for whatever reason.”