National body to determine who has the right to be Te Tai Tokerau Māori Council

Sir Taihākurei Durie, chairman of the New Zealand Māori Council, said a process will be followed to determine who is the legitimate Te Tai Tokerau Māori Council. Photo/File

A dispute over who has the right to call themselves the Te Tai Tokerau Māori Council will be decided by the national body.

The disagreement comes after two separate elections for the body were held this month.

Sir Taihākurei Durie, chairman of the New Zealand Māori Council - which is made up by representatives of district Māori councils throughout the country, said there was a process in place for these situations.

"Each district Māori council must be accredited so if we have two groups they will need to supply their particulars as to why they think that they are the appropriate body and we will then deal with it ... We need to deal with it impartially," he said.

Every three years district Māori council elections are held and 2018 marks a triennial election year.

Earlier this month, on May 4, elections were held at a hui at the Copthorne Hotel in Opononi.

Durie said the meeting was organised by Maori Committees, which represent different areas within the Te Tai Tokerau Māori Council district, with assistance from the New Zealand Māori Council.

At that hui, which was attended by 32 Māori Committee representatives, Wiremu Puriri was elected chairman and was appointed to represent the Te Tai Tokerau Māori Council on the New Zealand Māori Council, along with deputy chairman Sid Diamond and secretary Hiku Taylor-Wi Neera.

Puriri said that meeting was convened, chaired, and minuted by Durie.

But Rihari Dargaville, who was the Te Tai Tokerau Māori Council chairman before the triennial elections and says he still is, alleged that election was illegitimate for various reasons.

So Dargaville went ahead with triennial elections he said he had organised in April. Those elections, which were facilitated by an independent person, were held at the Kaikohe RSA on May 14 and were attended by more than 60 people, he said.

Dargaville was elected chairman.

Meanwhile, Puriri has filed a memorandum with the Waitangi Tribunal notifying them of the May 4 elections. In that memorandum he assured the Tribunal the Te Tai Tokerau Māori Council was acting in accordance with its statutory obligations.

Durie said whether or not the May 4 hui was legitimate would be an issue which would be addressed during the New Zealand Māori Council's process.

He said the New Zealand Māori Council will sit in July and by then there should be a report on the elections and a decision will be made.

"Really it's up to them to say 'hey there are two of us, we're fighting one another so we're going to present the best possible case we can,' and then the matter will be decided on its merits."