on sale of land at Shelly Bay, report finds
A report by the Māori Land Court has found thousands of iwi members did not get a say in the sale of iwi land at Shelly Bay in Wellington due to failings of the iwi membership system.
A group of Taranaki Whānui iwi members, Mau Whenua, complained about the vote process which resulted in the sale of iwi land by the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust (PNBST) to property developer Ian Cassels.
Sir Wira Gardiner was appointed independent reviewer by the Māori Land Court and found that the PNBST iwi membership register was a "mess".
He found that 2752 people had their application to become a registered iwi member declined, many of them without a clear reason as to why.
Sir Wira said this should have been "a matter of some considerable concern to the trustees, both past and present".
Link to article: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/423949/thousands-of-iwi-members-had-no-say-on-sale-of-land-at-shelly-bay-report-finds
