Major North Island iwi Ngati Kahungunu yesterday said it would go to court if necessary to assert its ownership rights over not just water but the state owned power companies that use it.
But Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson flatly ruled out having the meeting the iwi was seeking with him to discuss its bid for power company shares.
Last week as the Government responded to the Waitangi Tribunal on the Maori Council's water rights claim, Ngati Kahungunu filed its own claim asserting rights over water in its area and seeking a delay in the asset sales programme.
The Government has delayed the sale of Mighty River Power until next year while it consults with iwi affected by the sale over the tribunal's "shares plus" concept for redress.
But Ngati Kahungunu chairman Ngahiwi Tomoana yesterday said that following a hui over the weekend the iwi, the third largest in the country, was now "asserting their ownership rights to electricity state owned assets".