Rt Hon Winston Peters
New Zealand First Leader
Member of Parliament for Northland
3 MAY 2017

LEGAL BILL FOR MAORI BOARD V AUCKLAND COUNCIL NEARLY $300,000

NZ First is warning rate and taxpayers that huge legal bills will be coming their way given National’s racially based changes to the Resource Management Act.

“Lawyers are the only winners from National’s racially divisive RMA changes that will create a separate planning system,” says New Zealand First and Northland MP Rt Hon Winston Peters.

“While Auckland Council’s so-called Independent Maori Statutory Board lost an appeal against Auckland Council’s Unitary Plan, it still left ratepayers nursing a $273,431 legal bill.

“And given Housing NZ was involved taxpayers footed another $19,204 taking the grand total to a staggering $292,635. This racially motivated politically correct poppycock has ripped almost $300,000 out of the pockets of hard working tax and ratepayers and for what?.

“These legal shenanigans all stem from a long list of sites supposedly of significance to Maori. So significant, they reportedly included a rubbish dump, an industrial site and a subdivision.

“It was a draft version of plan, which, in 2014, saw Sir Bob Jones asked to get ‘cultural impact assessments’ from one or more of 19 different Iwi groups to reinstate a window overlooking a sites. That’s nothing but Mafioso tactics masquerading as culture.

“The politically correct staff of Auckland Council wanted this policy kept, but councillors did the right thing and backed the hearings panel who said ditch it with Justice Wylie agreeing.

“Sadly, given National’s RMA changes, we can expect Koha for Consents to be the norm.

“It is no wonder why rates are out of control and National’s kowtowing to the Maori Party will only ramp this pressure up more. That’s unless there is a major change of course come September,” says Mr Peters.

ENDS

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