Protesters unpacified

The organisers of last month's anti-oil exploration Te Reinga Basin hikoi to Waitangi met last week with kaumatua, community members and representatives from Greenpeace, the Northland Forest and Bird Society, the Green and Mana parties.

The meeting was for a debriefing and to discuss what action to take next to highlight their concerns about deep sea oil exploration by Norwegian oil company Statoil in Te Reinga Basin.

A large portion of the hui was spent discussing Prime Minister John Key's invitation to one of those who marched to travel to Wellington to meet Cabinet members and their ministry officials to clear up "misinformation" about deep sea oil drilling.

Hikoi organiser Rueben Taipari Porter said correspondence with Mr Key's office had targeted individuals, however, rather than giving the organisers the opportunity to send their own independent representatives to meet his challenge.

"This can only mean that this invitation is just an election year publicity stunt for John Key to appear in the national news with protesters, giving the impression that he has pacified and alleviated their concerns," he said.

The challenge issued to Mr Key, to come to Muriwhenua for a public meeting about the issues of oil drillingand toxic mining, remained open.

Meanwhile, another meeting had been called for Monday, March 17 to discuss further action, now that the government had decided not to inform local hapu and communities of seismic testing or foreign presence in their areas, which Mr Porter said was a breach of te Tiriti o Waitangi, "and even their own laws, which stipulate full consultation with whanau and hapu in regards to petroleum and mineral exploration in Aotearoa New Zealand".