Iwi Collective Partnership Backs Te Ohu Kaimoana Compromise to Kermadecs

4.30pm, 14 September 2016

The Iwi Collective Partnership of 14 Iwi tribes is backing Te Ohu Kaimoana’s decision to continue court action given the Government’s rejection of an iwi compromise over the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary.

Maru Samuels, who attended the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawai’i on behalf of the 14 tribes, says Te Ohu Kaimoana is on the right track.

“Te Ohu Kaimoana is voicing the Treaty settlement issues clearly, and they have the full support of the Iwi Collective Partnership. Minister Smith should be rebuked for not consulting from the very beginning,” says Samuels.

“It’s really disappointing that Minister Smith is unwilling to be as open minded as Te Ohu Kaimoana. ICP gets the feeling this has become less about marine policy and more about the Minister.”

Samuels notes that even the Republic of Palau, a co-sponsor to Motion 53 along with wealthy US-based environmental group Pew Charitable Trusts, allows for sustainable fisheries extraction and other various fisheries management tools within its marine protected areas, the largest in the world by percentage of EEZ.

“If the inventors of the world’s largest MPA can allow for reasonable sustainable use rights in an MPA, why can’t our Government?”

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