I'm sticking to my guns, says Iti

Tuhoe activist Tame Iti at the Rotorua District Court yesterday. Picture / Alan Gibson

Tame Iti says he and his Tuhoe iwi will continue firing guns at powhiri even if he is convicted of firearms charges.

Iti's trial for allegedly brandishing and firing a shotgun during a powhiri for Waitangi Tribunal officials ended at Rotorua District Court yesterday.

The judge reserved his decision, but Iti told the Weekend Herald outside the court that if he was imprisoned or fined, Tuhoe tikanga (custom) of firing guns on ceremonial occasions would not change. "We will always fire the gun, whether it be me or somebody else, " he said.

The 55-year-old said the trial had undermined the tribe's tikanga, but had given the public an understanding of why he had fired the gun on a road leading to Tauarau Marae in Ruatoki and then at a New Zealand flag at the marae in January last year.

"The stance wasn't an individual act of an individual person, but it was an act of Tuhoe," he said.

Iti faces two charges of possessing a firearm in a public place without lawful purpose, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $4000 fine.

His lawyers, Annette Sykes and Jason Pou, argued in closing submissions yesterday that Iti's purpose was lawful because he had been taught and sanctioned by Tuhoe elders.

Ms Sykes said the powhiri had been an emotional and important occasion for the tribe, which had waited 104 years to address the Crown about confiscation of its lands.

The shooting of the flag had been part of a ritual of "Te Tuku o te Riri" ("the releasing of the anger"), and was done not to denigrate the flag, but to release the anger of Tu Matauenga (god of war), so discussion with the tribunal could occur.

She said failing to recognise Iti's "earnest and passionate expression of Tuhoe identity" as lawful purpose was ignoring the Bill of Rights Act and the International Covenant on Cultural and Political Rights.

The Crown, represented by Greg Hollister-Jones and Larry Meredith, said Iti's actions were unlawful because he did not have a firearms licence and fired the gun in public.

They disputed Iti's claims that cultural/ceremonial use gave him lawful purpose, saying acts of Parliament were binding on all New Zealanders.

"It is settled that both Pakeha and Maori are subject to the same criminal law," Mr Hollister-Jones said.

He said it was unreasonable for Iti to possess and fire a shotgun using live ammunition in front of the 500 or 600 people who were at the powhiri when he did not have a firearms licence.

Shooting at the flag was also a prima facie ("on the facts") breach of the New Zealand Flags, Emblems and Name Protection Act (although a charge Iti faced of desecrating the flag was dropped before the trial).

Mr Hollister-Jones said it was significant that Tauarau Marae kaumatua had decided there would be no firing of guns in anger on the marae as a result of the incidents involving Iti.

Ms Sykes said outside court that the trial had been a fair hearing.

"We're very grateful for the court giving Tuhoe an opportunity to put the mana and the sovereignty of their customs before them in a respectful way.

"I feel that the law of Tuhoe is not inconsistent with the law of New Zealand," she said.

Judge Chris McGuire, hearing the case after Iti elected a judge-only trial, ended the proceedings by saying he had substantial issues of fact and of law to consider.

He planned to deliver his ruling on the "important case" on June 30.

Arms and the man

Section 51(b) of the Arms Act 1983 states:

* Possession of a firearm in a public place "except for some lawful purpose" is an offence.

* The burden of establishing lawful purpose lies with the defendant.