Judge set to rule on Tamaki bid for league

Destiny Church pastor Hannah Tamaki. Photo / NZ Herald

Destiny Church's Hannah Tamaki should know today whether her bid to become president of the Maori Women's Welfare League can proceed when a High Court judge rules on a case brought by Mrs Tamaki.

This month, the league said it was investigating 10 league branches with Destiny links to see whether they breached the league's non-sectarian requirements in its constitution.

The league suspended Mrs Tamaki's presidential bid, and three more self-identified Destiny/league branches did not receive voting papers.

Yesterday in the High Court at Wellington, lawyers for Mrs Tamaki told Justice Stephen Kos that the league had acted unlawfully.

Hayden Wilson said his client sought relief which included staying the election so Mrs Tamaki's name could be included on voting papers.

The validity of all Destiny league branches and what power they might wield in the election was examined.

Under the league's voting system, each branch is allocated a number of votes. The maximum is 10 for branches with more than 90 financial members.

For the league, Alan Knowsley said Destiny-aligned branches might have had 139 votes. That was a significant block when there were eight candidates.

The league had every right to protect itself from a Destiny "takeover", especially when 10 branches were established after Mrs Tamaki's nomination, he said.

"Here you've got gerrymandering of the process ... to maximise votes.

"There is a very fishy smell from [those] branches."

If the league had not decided to investigate the Destiny branches, it would have effectively been "completely toothless to protect the mana of the league", which had been built up over 50 to 60 years, Mr Knowsley said.

In relation to the league inquiry, Justice Kos said you couldn't hang a person and then have the trial.

But he questioned membership of 10 branches, asking how it was possible that they branches belonged to the wider Auckland region but "substantial" numbers of members lived in Australia, Taranaki, Hamilton and Nelson.

Mr Wilson said there was nothing in the constitution to prevent this.

The league's leader had essentially decided for themselves on Mrs Tamaki's suitability for the election. That was wrong, he said.