By VANESSA BIDOIS Maori issues reporter
The Government faces a barrage of litigation and the threat of civil unrest over its decision to award only a share of the high-tech radio spectrum to a pan-Maori trust.
Professor Whatarangi Winiata, a spokesman for Maori claimants who made a successful Waitangi Tribunal claim to
the spectrum, has vowed to challenge the Crown at every legal level.
"I'm hoping our people will march on this and I think we can expect social unrest and social disturbance," Professor Winiata said.
"We must mobilise the legal profession to prevent this confiscation."
The comments have disappointed Maori Affairs Minister Dover Samuels, who said he was saddened by talk of legal action. He challenged the rest of the country to support the deal.
"Sometimes you've got to carve your way down the middle," Mr Samuels said.
Acting Communications Minister Trevor Mallard announced on Tuesday that an interim nine-member trust would have the exclusive right to buy one of the four spectrum blocks to be auctioned in July.
The high-frequency radiowave parcels support high-technology access for cellphones and the Internet. The value of all four blocks has been put at between $50 million and $200 million.
Former broadcaster Michael Rika, who has also lodged a claim with the tribunal, said Maori had a right to jam any radio waves that travelled across their tribal territories.
A descendant of the Rotorua hapu (sub-tribe) Ngati Whaoa o Waiotapu, Mr Rika says iwi have not relinquished their rights to the electromagnetic fields over their lands.
Hauraki MP John Tamihere, who backs the pan-Maori trust, said he had some sympathy with Professor Winiata's view but he had a job to do on behalf of his constituents.
The executive chairman of the Maori Council, Maanu Paul, refused to comment until the council had consulted its legal and financial advisers.
The national president of the Maori Women's Welfare League, Jacqui Te Kani, who is expected to be the league's representative on the trust, described the decision as a positive inroad for Maoridom.
Quotable New Zealand chief executive and former All Black Bill Osborne, who will set up the trust, said it would be an effective tool which would help young Maori with training, employment and scholarships.
