Capacity vital in claim process

The chief executive of the Crown Forest Rental Trust says the central North Island forestry settlement shows the importance of maintaining capacity within the bureaucracy.

The trust uses the interest on forest licence rentals to fund the research and negotiation of forestry claims.

Ben Dalton says it slashed staff several years ago after a parliamentary committee criticised its administration costs.

It soon found itself struggling to service claimants, and it had to rebuild expertise.

He says that means it was able to respond when new treaty minister Michael Cullen stepped up the pace of negotiations.

“All over the country there are tribes that are getting close to terms of negotiation or agreements in principle and pretty significant momentum, and in order to service those groups, you need good staff and people who understand these matters, like are able to build relationships with claimant groups, are able to deal with contracts. They’re not exactly cheap to find at the moment,” Mr Dalton says.

The trust has enough money to service all claimants who will be left after the large central North Island forests are handed over to an iwi collective.

SKINK SILENCE SUSPICIOUS TO MARINA PROTESTERS

Opponents of the proposed Whangamata marina are accusing the Conservation Department and local government of trying to hide the discovery of a rare native lizard on the site.

Hauraki iwi and residents protested yesterday against a move by developers to relocate the colony of moko skinks.

Grant McKintosh from the Surfbreak Protection Society says the skink colony was unknown when the project was approved, and news of its discovery only leaked in the past fortnight.

“There has been no public notice from DOC, Waikato Regional Council or Thames District Council that there are moko here. There has been no public notice and it’s all been done in house. I would say that most communities, if they found a moko habitat and moko flourishing, would proudly announce it to the community and the community would become part of it, enhancing that area and looking after that habitat,” Mr McKintosh says.

Residents and iwi want the Minister of Conservation to stop the marina.

MARINA SOCIETY DEFENDS SKINKING MOVE

But the Whangamata Marina Society says it was given permission to relocate the skinks in February.

Its president, Mick Kelly, the project will go on despite the protests.

“We were alerted in February that they may be there so we undertook a survey on the site that they were there and we applied to DOC for an urgent permit which was granted and the first round of capture has been done and we were hoping to start a second round of capture about two weeks ago, but that was held up,” he says.

Mr Kelly says hapu were consulted about relocating the moko skins.

CLARK UNIMPRESSED WITH NATIONAL’S TREATY PICK

The Prime Minister is warning National's pick for treaty negotiations minister won't be able to sustain the pace set by Michael Cullen.

John Key has indicated Chris Finlayson is likely to get the job if National takes the treasury benches.

Helen Clark says the former Bell Gully lawyer lacks the experience Maori are looking for.

“I'm not aware that he has had any engagement with any of these issues so if he were to be in such a role, he would take years to come up to speed. The whole thing goes on the back burner. He just doesn’t have that experience. He may be a smart lawyer, but hey, there’s a lot of smart lawyers working for all sorts of people in the Treaty area,” Ms Clark says.

She says concern over treaty progress is helping consolidate Maori support behind Labour.

TOHEROA KNOWLEDGE TO BE SHARED

A Ngapuhi kaumatua is sharing his expertise in toheroa with tamariki.

James te Tuhi from Te Kopuru near Dargaville has written his first book in an attempt to protect the iconic shellfish.

What he learned from his grandparents, as well as his mahi as a kaitiaki since the 1980s relocating toheroa to rebuild stocks on Northland beaches, has given him a comprehensive knowledge of the species.

“We know how to do toheroa. We know how to bring it back. We know how to grow it. We know everything about it. I’ve spoken for the last 30 years to the grown ups and I’ve taken it from Muriwai right up to Te Hapua talking about the toheroa, but nobody’s taken it up and so I decided to go into the schools and use that media of laying it out to the children,” Mr te Tuhi says.

Toheroa was translated into Maori by Ross Gregory, and includes a history of the shellfish, its main predators and how to protect the resource.

HENARE AT HOME IN BOARD ROOM OR KITCHEN

Members of the Kohanga Reo National Trust will be among the hundred of people making their way to Otiria Marae near Moerewa today to pay their last respects to a former patron.

Rose Lady Henare died on Tuesday aged 96.

Iritana Tawhiwhirangi, the trust's former chair and chief executive, says Lady Henare came on the trust after the death of her husband, founding patron Sir James Henare.

She made a valuable contribution.

“While she was a trustee and had a finger on the pulse of the policies and the developments, she also played another role there. She was in the kitchen at the back and she walked through there and made sure that everything in the kitchen was top of the bill, as was the business. She moved freely between the policy kaupapa side and the kitchen, looking after people,” Mrs Tawhiwhirangi says.

Rose Lady Henare will be moved tomorrow to Motatau to be buried beside her husband.