Tamaki's wife takes voting row to court

Hannah Tamaki. Photo / Christine Cornege

Destiny Church's Hannah Tamaki plans to seek a High Court injunction to force the Maori Women's Welfare League to reinstate her as a candidate for president.

Mrs Tamaki, wife of Bishop Brian Tamaki, said on her Facebook page yesterday that her detractors believed her appearance was all wrong for the league.

"They say I'm too glamorous to lead the league. I don't have the right look."

Sources say the request for an injunction will be filed today if the league does not back down on its decision to exclude the Destiny Church co-founder from the election.

The league is also conducting an inquiry into the constitutionality of three Destiny-affiliated league branches. The league's charter says it is a non-sectarian organisation.

Mrs Tamaki's nomination for the presidency was originally confirmed with those of seven other candidates, but her name was missing when voting papers were sent to branches nationwide last week.

A panel led by league general manager Jacqui Te Kani and including law firm Rainey Collins and accountants KPMG is also examining 10 other branches for Destiny links.

Because of the inquiry, they and the three Destiny-affiliated branches have not received voting papers - excluding them from voting.

Raewyn Bhana-Ngata, a Destiny member whose position in the league allows her to register new branches in her area, has been stood down during the investigation. She has declined to comment.

A spokeswoman for Mrs Tamaki said she could not comment as the league's national executive had banned members from speaking to the media.

However, correspondence to the national executive seen by the Herald questions its ability to exclude branches from voting when their memberships haven't been invalidated.

It argues that the inquiry is so tarnished by bias against Mrs Tamaki as to be worthless.

The inquiry started when the Waiatarau branch in Auckland complained that Destiny-affiliated branches were sectarian in nature and thus unconstitutional. Sources say lesbian members of the branch are offended at the church's anti-homosexuality stance.

However, Waiatarau member Prue Kapua, civil-union partner of Labour MP Louisa Wall, denied that was the reason.

She said it was wrong that the co-founder of a religious group could lead a non-sectarian organisation. "Just the media nonsense over the last couple of weeks [shows] that is how she is identified, that first and foremost she is Destiny Church."

An Anglican member of the league sent a statement to the Herald yesterday defending Mrs Tamaki's right to stand.

Fran Hokianga of Auckland said the way Mrs Tamaki had been treated wouldn't happen to the thousands of Anglican, Catholic or Ratana women who had built the league.

"What happened to Hannah is not right, and this is not about Destiny."

Last night, Mrs Tamaki told at least 100 women at Hamilton's Destiny Church that she would continue campaigning for the election as she had a "commitment to follow through".