Tensions surface between counsel

Press, 27 July 1988, Page 6

Tensions surface between counsel

Tension between legal counsel on both sides of the Ngai Tahu land claim surfaced during the Waitangi Tribunal hearing yesterday. Crown legal counsel, Mrs Shonagh Kenderdine, opened the Crown case on Banks Peninsula. The submission: tackled allegations made by historians for the tribe that the Crown used coercion, fraud, threats, malice, bad faith and duress to obtain land in Banks Peninsula. Mrs Kenderdine said the allegations crumbled when legal tests were applied. The Crown was shown to be “free from fraud,” she said. Many elements of the transaction had been comprehended by the tribe.

“The French purchase was not seen by the British as being null and void. They had no appreciation of the alleged fraud committed by the French.

“They were not participants in fraud if there was any,” she said. Counsel for the claimants, Mr Paul Temm, Q.C., said he found it “absolutely extraordinary” that the Crown contended that a “void transaction” extinguished native title to the land. Mrs Kenderdine: “I find it extraordinary that counsel can rise to his feet and make these submissions to you.” She said the Crown was entitled to be heard and have its evidence considered by the tribunal. The Deputy Chief Judge on the Waitangi Tribunal, Judge Ashley McHugh, agreed.

Mr Temm said he had been seeking clarification on the point the tribunal was making, “Because if that is so, I find it extraordinary in the legal sense.”

. “I find these constant interjections offensive,”

said Mrs Kenderdine. Judge McHugh said he did not think Mr Temm meant to be offensive. “I think he was genuinely concerned about a point raised and we have dealt with it,” he said. Mrs Kenderdine told the tribunal in the submission, that the Crown had complied with its duties under the Treaty of Waitangi. “The Crown sought to be informed. It acted reasonably and in good faith. It consulted. Most important, it preferred the word of Ngai Tahu.” The objectives of both parties had been clear. The Crown wished to buy the peninsula for settlement, and Ngai Tahu wished to sell the land and retain some reserves. “The only relevant issue is whether the reserves to be retained by Ngai Tahu were fair and adequate in all the circumstances.”