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The Waitangi Tribunal received another request yesterday to consider the case of a Maori woman fighting to keep her Tongan husband in New Zealand by having him declared a taonga.
Mofuike Fonua faces deportation after overstaying his work permit and the Department of Labour decided his marriage to Rosina Hauiti was a sham.
Tribunal Judge Carrie Wainwright last week ruled she would not hear the couple's case because the tribunal was not a forum for appeals against immigration decisions.
"The argument that Mr Fonua is a taonga to his wife, and therefore decisions affecting him would impugn her Treaty rights, are not at all persuasive," Judge Wainwright said.
A submission filed to the tribunal yesterday by Ms Hauiti's lawyer, former Immigration Minister Tuariki Delamere, and human rights lawyer Evgeny Orlov asked Judge Wainwright to reconsider the matter.
Ms Hauiti is asking the judge to determine if a person can be considered a taonga under the Treaty of Waitangi.
"Should the tribunal then find that a person is not a taonga under the Treaty of Waitangi that would of course bring Ms Hauiti's claim to a close," the submission says.
"However, should the tribunal find in the affirmative then the second question the tribunal must consider is 'Is the claimant Rosina Hauiti's husband, Mofuike Fonua, a taonga under the Treaty of Waitangi'?"
The tribunal is the only body empowered to make such a determination, the submission says.
Ms Hauiti claimed that she had been prejudicially affected by the Crown's policies and actions that were inconsistent with the principles of the Treaty.
Historian Paul Moon said the Treaty claim was badly advised and Ms Hauiti was wasting her time.
Professor Moon said by claiming that a husband was taonga under the Treaty, a person was being converted into a piece of property. This was neither the intention of the Treaty's British authors nor the understanding of the Maori signatories.
