Treaty ‘tinkering’ backs Govt into corner—Peters

Press, 26 October 1989, Page 6

Treaty ‘tinkering’ backs Govt into corner—Peters

By OLIVER RIDDELL and PA The Government is panicking over the Court of Appeal decision on the Tainui-CoalCorp case, according to the Opposition spokesman on Maori Affairs, Mr Winston Peters.

He was commenting on the announcement by the AttorneyGeneral, Mr Lange, that the Government was seeking Court of Appeal permission to appeal to the Privy Council. "They have finally realised that their tinkering with the Treaty of Waitangi claims issue has backed them into a corner,” Mr Peters said. The decision from the Court of Appeal had been inevitable given the bizarre nature of the Government’s legislation during the last five years. It was time for a political solution and for the public to be involved in the whole Treaty debate, he said.

Genuine Maori grievances existed, but they had to be settled in negotiation with the claimants and not through the courts.

Judges were not elected to uphold the public interests, they

were nominated to uphold the law. When the law was flawed their decisions reflected that, Mr Peters said. The Tainui Maori Trust Board spokesman, Mr Bob Mahuta, said yesterday the Tainui people would file a Notice of Opposition to the Government’s application but would prepare for a Privy

Council hearing. If the hearing eventuated it would mean an “enormous” drain on tribal resources, but the tribe was “committed to seek justice,” Mr Mahuta said. Mr Lange said the Government was simply keeping its options open.

It could negotiate with the Tainui Maori Trust Board, settle according to the Court of Appeal decision, legislate, or appeal. Tuesday was the last day for the Government to have sought leave from the Court of Appeal to appeal to the Priyy Council but it did not necessarily mean it would appeal, he said. Mr Lange denied it was hypocritiical for the Government to consider going to the Privy Council when it had previously announced it intended to do away with the righ of appeal to the council. “It seems to me that we would be doing ourselves and the country a disservice if we ended up with effectively only one court of jurisdiction in a matter involving the Government and any claimant,” Mr Lange said on Radio New Zealand.