Lobbyists put pressure on Maori king

New Maori King Tehuitia. Picture / Peter Drury

Senior Tainui elders have moved to fend off overtures by cultural and political groups jockeying to win the ear of the new Maori King.

The Weekend Herald understands some groups eager to gain influence over the new leader of the Kingitanga, King Tuheitia, have started lobbying him.

On Monday hundreds of thousands attended or watched the funeral of Maoridom's longest-serving monarch, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, which included the coronation of her eldest son, hours before Dame Te Ata's burial.

A senior tribal source said the king was settling into the new role, and was being assisted by a group of cultural and political advisers.

The tribal source said groups and individuals had begun jostling for positions of influence with the new king.

They included the former head of Te Wananga o Aotearoa, Rongo Wetere.

Dr Wetere, who was prominent among dignitaries at Monday's ceremony, was instrumental in having the king appointed as manager of the wananga's Huntly campus.

Tainui kaumatua Tui Adams, who was involved in the coronation and is a long-time mentor of the king, is a close associate of Dr Wetere and member of the wananga's parent body, the AI Trust.

Dr Adams and Harold Maniapoto were leading figures in a breach of the Treaty of Waitangi action taken against the Government by the AI Trust, and heard by the Waitangi tribunal last year.

Another tribal source said Kingitanga leaders were uncomfortable with the king being linked to the wananga or its former leaders.

King Tuheitia is understood to have resigned as cultural adviser to the wananga.

"Tainui is a wealthy tribe, we do not need nor want it to be seen that the king is on the Government's payroll," the source said.

The new monarch was stood down this year as manager at the wananga's Huntly campus after management restructuring implemented by its new chief executive, Bentham Ohia.

Dr Wetere could not be reached for comment last night. It is also understood that the formerly close but unofficial relationship between the Labour Government and Dame Te Ata is not guaranteed to continue under the new monarch.

The source said Dame Te Ata's death was also likely to mark a decline in the influence of the family of the queen's late brother, Sir Robert Mahuta.

Sir Robert's wife, Lady Raiha Mahuta, is co-negotiator of Tainui's Waikato river claim, and is the queen's representative on the 11-member executive board, Te Arataura.

She is also of Ngapuhi descent - a source of much frustration for leading tribal members, unhappy that a person from a Northland tribe is instrumental in seeking the return of a Tainui taonga.

Daughter Tipa Mahuta also sits on the tribal executive and is a member of Tainui Group Holdings, the tribe's financial arm. Older sister Nanaia Mahuta is MP for Tainui.

The three are understood to have had substantial influence over Dame Te Ata, and senior tribal members have vowed this will not be repeated with the new monarch.

The source said that although the three Mahutas were related to the new king, he did not hold them in the same regard as his mother had.