A Crown lawyer told the Waitangi Tribunal the Crown entered into a $10.4m agreement with Rena's owner and insurers because it feared they would walk away from the negotiating table.
An agreement between the Crown and the shipping company was signed in October 2012 in which it says $10.4 million would be paid to the Government if a resource consent is granted to leave the wreck on Astrolabe Reef.
Crown lawyer Karen Clark QC told the Tribunal today during an urgent inquiry into the Crown's conduct post the grounding to accept her assurances that the Crown had acted in good faith.
Ms Clark said in entering into the agreement which included a clause that assistance would be offered to Rena's owner with its resource consent application if required, the Crown did not believe it had breached its Treaty of Waitangi obligations, nor prejudice its position.
She said the clause was to signal to the ship's owners that filing a resource consent application would not be blocked but does not bar the Crown from opposing the application.