Tamaki's league bid lawful

Destiny Church pastor Hannah Tamaki has won a battle to run for the precidency of the Maori Women's Welfare League. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Hannah Tamaki's bid for the Maori Women's Welfare League presidency is to go ahead - but her potential voting power base has been restricted after a High Court ruling by Justice Stephen Kos.

Mrs Tamaki, wife of the Destiny Church's bishop, Brian Tamaki, took legal action against the league after it effectively disqualified her from the election by failing to put her name on ballot papers.

She says she is excited about the result and can work with league members who mocked her appearance during the controversy.

Thirteen Destiny-aligned branches were also not sent voting forms and the league announced an investigation into 10 of them to see whether they contravened its non-sectarian constitutional requirements.

In his ruling yesterday, Justice Kos described the situation as bitter faction fighting.

He found Mrs Tamaki's exclusion from the election was unlawful because she met all eligibility criteria.

However, 10 branches established a month after Mrs Tamaki's May 2 presidential nomination will not receive any voting rights.

The league runs an election system where each branch that has 91 financial members can receive a maximum of 10 votes.

The 10 Destiny branches established on June 4 added just over 900 members. Each branch claimed between 91 and 93 members, potentially handing Mrs Tamaki 100 votes.

Justice Kos said that at the end of May, before the 10 branches were made, the league had 153 branches sharing 347 votes.

It was not clear whether any of the new Destiny members consented to being members of the league, and it was "remarkable", Justice Kos said, that branches established in the Tamaki Makaurau (Auckland) region could have members who lived outside the area, including in Australia.

"I find the manner in which the new branches have been established completely contrary to the practices and tikanga of the league.

"For the purposes of this review of proceeding I do not find, on the balance of probabilities, that the 10 new branches are fully constituted as branches of the league with an entitlement to delegates and votes."

Three other Destiny-aligned branches constituted between 2005 and 2009 will be able to vote.

The judge also found the 10 branches to be non-financial. But he found 26 further branches were non financial - they will also not be allowed to vote.

Mrs Tamaki said she could "absolutely" work with all league women, including those who didn't want Destiny members. It was important to remember their commonalities - they were all Maori and women.

"I wish to make it clear that this litigation against certain actions of the Maori Women's Welfare League was not taken lightly and was pursued only after all other avenues were exhausted.