Harawira not to blame: Marae

By BRIDGET CARTER and RUTH BERRY

Government attempts to blame activist Titewhai Harawira for yesterday's abandoned hui have been rejected by the marae, which says the level of anger among iwi was what sealed the decision.

After lengthy meetings on Monday night and yesterday morning, Terenga Paraoa Marae trustees advised Government ministers the foreshore and seabed hui should not proceed as their safety could not be guaranteed.

It followed calls for Wira Gardiner, set to chair the hui for the Government, to be kept off the Whangarei marae and moves to block the front entrance by protesters in order to force the Government party in the back door.

An annoyed Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen - holed up with ministers in a nearby hotel while the decisions were made - vowed to continue with the remaining five consultation hui, saying the Government would not be forced into retreat.

To do so would only signal a "victory to the small minority who want to disrupt these hui".

"It was clear that a small group of people had taken control of events and had dishonoured kaumatua," he said.

MPs Dover Samuels and John Tamihere took the same line, lashing out at "Mrs Harawira and her associates", some of whom had set up court at the marae the night before.

The abusive actions of "mastermind" Mrs Harawira and her family had been intolerable and inappropriate and breached every cultural custom under the sun, the pair said in a statement entitled "An End to Harawira-ism".

Mr Tamihere was particularly angry that protesters wanted to block the front entrance.

"You don't invite Maori MPs through the back door. You invite dogs through the back door. That is one of the biggest cultural insults out," he said. "She [Mrs Harawira] turned the marae into a bloody mobsville."

A number of locals were more philosophical, saying if a hui was to be abandoned it was most likely to happen in the North, where many old wounds had yet to be healed by the Government.

Many present admitted that although Mrs Harawira had stoked the fire, she and the small group of protesters would not have been able to keep the Government away unless many shared their views or were ambivalent.

Marae chairman Tom Parore said kaumatua had wanted the event to proceed and proper protocol around the visitors to be observed.

But he said of the 100 people meeting before the hui, for which about 400 gathered, "there was a general consensus that more people objected to the Crown's presence than supported it".

"The core of the driving force was some people that have been involved previously, but there was a lot of anger across the board."

Ngati Kahu chairwoman Margaret Mutu said she believed people were evenly split about cancelling the hui.

"There were some of us who wanted to tell the Crown to their faces how disgusted we were and others who said, why bother."

Waitangi Fisheries Commissioner Shane Jones, of Te Aupouri, said there was "always going to be fireworks trying to hold such a hui in Tai Tokerau".

He believed that although there was significant opposition to the plans, most did want to engage with the Government and work their way towards a solution.

Mrs Harawira's promise to "bare her behind" to Mr Gardiner, who she claims betrayed Ngapuhi by giving evidence in the Environment Court supporting the Government's plans to build Northland Prison at Ngawha, had probably been the final nail in the coffin, he said.

Mrs Harawira defended her actions yesterday, saying the Government "has not given us the time to talk and they expect us to run to their timeframe".

South Island iwi Ngai Tahu will host the next two hui.

- additional reporting: NZPA