Whatever happens at next year's review of the Government's granting of a permit to explore for oil off the East Cape, it will help provide clarity for the industry, says Petroleum Exploration and Production Association (PEPA) head John Pfahlert.
East Coast iwi Te Whanau a Apanui this week learned that it - in conjunction with Greenpeace - had succeeded in obtaining a judicial review of the Government's granting of a permit for Brazilian oil giant Petrobras to explore for resources in the offshore Raukumara Basin.
A hearing is scheduled for June 5 next year and documents obtained by Radio NZ show that the Crown will deny there was an obligation to consult with the tribe about granting the permit.
The iwi and Greenpeace are seeking an order to quash the five-year permit and Mr Pfahlert says that, regardless of the outcome, "it will clarify what responsibility the Crown has".
Representatives of the industry-funded PEPA will be in court as observers for next year's hearing and he hoped the result would be helpful for future proposals to explore for energy resources in New Zealand territory.
"This issue is between the appellants and the Crown - we don't have any axe to grind - but we certainly look forward to seeing what happens," he said. "To date, the Crown has defended its actions but now it will be forced to reveal in great detail exactly what consultation was done."
Mr Pfahlert believed that the processes followed in the granting of the Petrobras/Raukumara Basin permit seemed to have "flowed out of" a 1980s Privy Council ruling on obligations in terms of consultation with Maori.
"I'm sure that, under that ruling, the Crown thinks what it has done has been sufficient," he said. "The judicial review will give the High Court an opportunity to examine whether or not that process is deficient and, if not, no doubt the court will clarify that."
Previous actions had indicated that, when it came to consultation issues, many iwi felt they were inadequately resourced to take part in the processes, Mr Pfahlert added.
"That is something we have always said we are open to discussing but the Crown needs to come on board," he said.
"What we don't want to see is an increase in petroleum royalties to pay for it. The Government already gets nearly $500 million in royalties so while we do think it would result in a better consenting process if iwi were better resourced, we feel the Crown should put its hand in its own pocket to pay for it."
The granting of the review follows action in April of this year, when Greenpeace and Te Whanau a Apanui launched a small armada of boats to conduct protest action around vessels carrying out survey work on Petrobras's behalf.
When launching their bid for the review, iwi spokesman Rikirangi Gage said they had "a sacred responsibility to protect and preserve our natural environment".
"The Government has a sacred duty under the Treaty of Waitangi to work alongside us to achieve this [but it] is continuing to fail these obligations, and is putting both the marine environment and our communities at risk," Mr Gage said.
"Rather than pander to the interests of foreign oil companies, the Government must face up to the fact that the burning of fossil fuels is one of the major contributors to global climate change and that we must all join together as a nation to protect our children's future."
In a statement issued on Friday, Maori Party Whip Te Ururoa Flavell hailed the granting of the judicial review to Te Whanau a Apanui and Greenpeace as a victory.
"It is encouraging to see communities and iwi leading in more productive and positive ways," he said. "There is a definite need for hapu and iwi to be a part of the consultation processes."
As part of its Relationship Accord signed with the National Party this week, the Maori Party included a statement that the Government would "agree to give due consideration to the issue of effective engagement with iwi, hapu and whanau in its review of the Crown Minerals Act 1991.".
"Full marks to Te Whanau a Apanui for their perseverance and initiative." APNZ