Maori school protesters win reprieve

Maori occupying a small school at Orauta, near Moerewa in central Northland, have been granted a temporary reprieve against a District Court order requiring them to vacate the property this week.

In an interim order, the High Court at Auckland stayed the execution of District Court Judge Thomas Everitt's order made last week that Ken Brown and his supporters must vacate the school by September 14.

The stay was granted on the same day the order for Maori to vacate was to have expired and will remain until further order of the High Court.

Tiny Orauta school was closed by the Education Ministry last January after a ministerial review of central Northland schools.

But Mr Brown, his whanau and supporters, have defied the ministry and kept the school open as an unregistered Maori school with at least 15 pupils.

The Crown, through the Attorney-General, successfully sought in the Kaikohe court in August to have the school land returned to the Crown, through an order requiring the Maori occupiers to vacate the property.

But the management committee of the Maori incorporation now running the school is challenging the District Court's ruling that they must give up possession and have started High Court proceedings seeking to overturn the order to vacate.

It is understood the occupiers' appeal against the order is set down for a hearing in the High Court at Whangarei on October 19.

Mr Brown said yesterday he and his group would stay at the school at least until the appeal was heard.

He maintains that because the land on which Orauta school stands is Crown land reserved for Maori (native) school use, Maori have a right to its occupation and use for educational purposes as gazetted in 1940 when the land was taken under the Public Works Act for a native school.

A ministry spokesman in Wellington would say only that the ministry would continue to pursue appropriate legal processes to ensure "recovery" of the Orauta school site.

It would make no other comment while the issue was before the court, the spokesman said.