Some interesting news from Unattachednz:
Tuku Morgan’s false accusations of financial mismanagement against the chair of Waikato-Tainui Te Kauhanganui Mrs Tania Martin have been dismissed by Waikato Police corporate fraud detectives.
The Waikato corporate fraud office stated in a written response to Mrs Martin there was no basis for the intervention of the criminal law after reviewing the allegations made by Tuku Morgan and Robin Whanga.
Tuku Morgan (chair of the committee Te Arataura) made public his allegations of financial mismanagement in the Waikato Tainui tribal magazine ‘Te Hokioi’, which is distributed to over 60,000 tribal members; and he repeated those claims in two internal reports to Te Kauhanganui.
Trouble in Tainui erupted last year when Tania Martin released a damning report criticising the tribal executive, Te Arataura. In response, Tuku Morgan lobbied Kingi Tuheitia to remove Tania Martin as Chair of Te Kauhanganui, the tribal Parliament. The King subsequently sacked Ms Martin only for her to be reinstated by Te Kauhanganui at the behest of the High Court. Martin then publicly released an affidavit delivered to Te Kauhanganui which was, in my opinion at least, a damning indictment against Tuku Morgan and Te Arataura. Tuku Morgan and Te Arataura responded in kind with Tuku publicly slagging Tania Martin on Native Affairs. The tit for tat battle has continued over the last few months, the main event been the repeated attempts by Te Arataura to block meetings of Te Kauhanganui.
It is obvious Tania Martin enjoys the support of Te Kauhanganui. As such, she will not go away. It is also clear that Tuku Morgan and Te Arataura do not, as such their positions are in jeopardy. It is in their self interest to block, avoid, stymie and attack Te Kauhanganui. Te Arataura is the power behind the throne (the Kingitanga) and the regulator of tribal funds. Te Arataura holds the power, but Te Kauhanganui holds the Mana. In my opinion Te Arataura cannot continue their game. At some point Te Kauhanganui will assert its Mana.
The troubles in Tainui are indicative of the troubles faced by post-settlement entities. The systems used by Tainui are too complex and, as is common across Maoridom, there are too many chiefs. The success of treaty settlements largely depends on the quality of the systems and institutions Iwi utilise and create. Maori cannot afford to get it wrong.
