The paramount chief of Ngati Tuwharetoa, Tumu te Heuheu, has distanced his central North Island tribe from a submission made to a parliamentary select committee about the future of appeals to the Privy Council.
The submission, headed "submission of Te Heuheu of Tuwharetoa," was made by a former Maori landcourt judge, Heta Hingston.
He was speaking on behalf of Timi te Heuheu, a brother of the chief and husband of National MP Georgina te Heuheu, who sits on the committee considering the bill abolishing the right of appeal to the Privy Council.
"Access to the Privy Council gives us access to an independent mutual forum which we see as paramount in Maori cases which are often against the Crown and involve the clarification of treaty guaranteed rights and responsibilities," the submission to the committee said.
Tumu te Heuheu took the unusual step of issuing a statement saying he had informed Attorney-General Margaret Wilson that the submission "was not the Ngati Tuwharetoa position".
He said Ngati Tuwharetoa and the Attorney-General would host a consultation hui with Maori next month. The hui would include discussion on the proposal for a supreme court.
