Rena: Cash offered to Maori

Daina Shipping Company has applied to Bay of Plenty Regional Council for resource consent to leave the Rena wreck and debris on the reef.

Bay of Plenty Maori say they have been offered thousands of dollars to withdraw their opposition to leaving the Rena on Astrolabe Reef.

Hapu Patuwai this week rejected an offer of $750,000 from the owners of the shipwreck Rena, Daina Shipping Company.

Ngai Te Rangi iwi, Te Runanga o Ngati Awa and Nga Potiki a Tamapahore also said they have turned down offers but Rotorua-based Te Arawa confirmed it had come to an agreement with the shipping company but would not reveal how much it had been promised.

The offer of $750,000 was made to the Patuwai Tribal Committee who called an urgent tribal meeting this week, attended by more than 40 tribal members.

In exchange for the cash offer and an undertaking to carry out monitoring of the reef for 10 years, the tribe was asked to withdraw their submission to oppose the owner's resource consent application.

The tribe refused, vowing to hold their position - that they wanted the Rena wreck completely removed from the reef.

Chairman Kereama Akuhata said the matter had caused a split within the tribe and the hapu would be working hard to try to unify their people while preparing for the September hearings.

"It has been the usual case of divide and conquer."

Mr Akuhata said the iwi believed there were still toxic substances left in the wreckage which would impact on present and future generations of Patuwai.

"We believe the mauri of the reef has been seriously affected and to remedy this the wreck must be removed."

Daina Shipping Company has applied to Bay of Plenty Regional Council for resource consent to leave the wreck and debris on the reef. The hearing is expected to take place on September 7.

Rena's representatives Sweeney Vesty did not return repeated calls from the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend yesterday.

Te Runanga o Ngati Awa chief executive officer Enid Ratahi-Pryor said Ngati Awa would also continue to oppose the Rena owner's application.

"It's one of their strategies so that when they appear in the Environment Court they have less submitters to deal with," she said.

No amount of money would be able to mitigate the spiritual and cultural damage done to the environment by the ship's grounding, Ms Ratahi-Pryor said.

She refused to say how much the hapu was offered.

Te Arawa chairman Sir Toby Curtis said the Rotorua-based iwi, which had strong ties with Maketu, reached a "wonderful outcome" with Rena's owners promising a sum of money. However, he said he did not know the details which were being discussed at a "thank you" meeting with Rena representatives in Otamarakau yesterday.

Te Arawa deputy chairman William Emery and chief executive Roku Mihinui, who were at the hui, did not return repeated calls before publication last night.

"Everything has been addressed and everyone is quite happy with the outcome," Sir Toby said.

He said the iwi made its decision following a report from one of its own divers, who assessed the wreck and feasibility of removal.

"Our [concern] was if we stuck our neck out and said 'remove that wreckage' we are going to end up destroying the reef itself."

NZ First MP Clayton Mitchell said he believed the Rena wreck was damaging the environment.

Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby questioned the integrity of iwi submissions if one party had taken the offer.

"If there are genuine concerns, which there are, with regards to Rena staying there and the issues of the aftermath and the environment, then they don't go away with payment - they don't disappear with a payment."

Western Bay Mayor Ross Paterson said the offer was nothing new.

"Iwi have made their thoughts known and owners are trying to accommodate them in some kind of shape or form and money is usually one of the bottom lines."

Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller said across New Zealand there was the resource consent framework which required people to gain consents to operate and sometimes objections were settled in a commercial way.

Motiti Island resident Rangi Butler said she was devastated to learn some iwi had taken up the offers.

"It's absolutely divide and conquer," she said.

"When we started this kaupapa (principal) four years ago we were all together but now they've gone down a different pathway."

Ngai Te Rangi iwi chairman Charlie Tawhiao said it considered re-evaluating its position after learning of possible environmental impacts, but on Wednesday decided the principle the iwi supported at the beginning had not changed.

Mr Tawhiao refused to disclose how much the company had offered in mitigation but said "it wasn't the amount, it was the principle". "Even if they doubled it or tripled it, it was about the right thing to do," he said.

Nga Potiki a Tamapahore Trustee, Tama Hovell, there had been approaches from the owners to the iwi but they too would not change their position that the wreck should be removed.

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