Motiti Island
An island hapu off the coast of Tauranga has come out as "not against the possibility" of leaving part of the wrecked container ship Rena on nearby Astrolabe Reef - and has distanced itself from an another island group which wants it gone.
While Ngai Te Hapu Incorporated has lodged a claim with the Waitangi Tribunal, challenging the Crown to establish why it had so far failed to enforce the removal of the wreck near Motiti Island, a hapu stating to be the "correct voice" for cultural issues around the reef has voiced a different view.
It comes as Tauranga Moana iwi, which have indicated opposition to the ship being left but have not reached a clear position, meet in Bay of Plenty today.
Motiti Island was among the hardest hit areas in the Bay of Plenty when the ship ran aground on the reef (Otaiti), spilling 350 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and container debris.
Last week, part of the ship's accommodation block was removed and temporarily moved to behind the island as part of the ongoing salvage operation.
The ship's owners recently confirmed their intentions to apply for resource consent to leave part of the wreck on the reef, and have argued that removing the entire wreck could be a lengthy and highly dangerous operation.
Nepia Ranapia, head of the Korowai Kahui o Te Patuwai Tribal Council, a collective of elders of Te Patuwai Hapu, said his hapu was talking with a representative of the Rena, Konstantinos Zacharatos.
"In regards to our position on the Rena, there are many matters still to be talked about; however we make clear that we as elders are not against the possibility of leaving the ship on our reef," he said.
"We do not seek to see the reef destroyed any further or continue to risk human life.
"To do so would damage the spiritual essence, which is the Mauri of the reef, not that which other Maori are suggesting it is only ecological environment."
Mr Ranapia said the issue of the ship remaining on the reef should belong to the three parties - the owners, the Government, and his council of elders "and their representatives as the traditional and cultural entity and the original and rightful owners of Otaiti reef, with significant cultural interests and recognised by the legal Motiti Hapu Management Plan".
"It is for these representative bodies to sort out this leadership decision, not those who are too clouded by emotion and not reality and reason."
Mr Ranapia said his collective, rather than Ngai Te Hapu Incorporated, was the "correct voice" of the cultural interests of Astrolabe Reef.
The possibility of an agreement to leave the Rena on the reef would require many factors that had been agreed to in principle, he said.
They included that "everything humanly possible" without high risk to human life had been done to make the ship safe and negate the majority of environmental effects and protect the reef from further destruction; that a long term environmental strategy be required, and that a long-term relationship continue, along with and "other possible mitigating terms and conditions".
"However we would also advocate that the responsible regulators should also assist in such matters, as their recklessness resulted in this issue, having not placed proper shipping lanes and monitoring protocols," he said.
"While the blame can be placed on the Rena owners, it is so easily forgotten that they conveniently neglected their responsibility in placing a strategic plan for monitoring shipping, despite having been many incidents around the sea area of Motiti Island for over a hundred years, including the grounding of the ship Golden Masters as a result of hitting Okarapu reef west of Otaiti in 1959."
After this event there was no effort made, Mr Ranapia said.
"Due to the increase in the numbers of cargo ships entering the Port of Tauranga, the authorities made no effort to place strategic protocols and monitoring, which contributed to the lack of rules that made a grounding of a ship inevitable.
"We, the residents of Motiti, foresaw that such an event was inevitable on account of witnessing many ships moving north east between the outer islands Motunau (Plate Island) and Motuhaku (Schooner reef) and the outer reefs of Matarehua (Knoll) to the southern end of Motiti Island and Papamoa beach."
Mr Ranapia said he wanted to make it clear the collective did not recognise other iwi expressing their opinion on the removal of the Rena due to them being cultural entities.
"As such, they must recognise the cultural protocols of tikanga and that the latter of those who hold turangawawae tribal ownership hold all rights, including speaking rights.
"We are aware that the democratic system allows other cultural entities to voice their opinion. However their opinions cannot be seen as valid, when they themselves are breaking their own protocols."
Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby has come out against leaving the ship on the reef, while Labour leader David Cunliffe said a Labour Government would force the ship owners to pay to have the whole wreck removed.
Mr Cunliffe said leaving the ship would be an "insult to the people of Tauranga, an insult to local iwi, and an insult to our environment to leave that potentially toxic wreck on the reef".
Prime Minister John Key hit back at the comments, saying the wreck's future was up to the local regional council or potentially the Environment Court rather than the Government.
"Is [Mr Cunliffe] really saying that if the Environment Court upholds a decision to leave the wreck there that he'll ride over the top of them?"
The ship owners, which have been consulting with leaders in the Bay of Plenty, was expected to lodge a resource consent application in the coming months.