By AUDREY YOUNG
Conservation Minister Sandra Lee requested that Tuhoe art be sold in the DoC visitors' centre during her private visit to Lake Waikaremoana with Tuhoe artist Tame Iti as her escort.
And Mr Iti suggested during the January visit that the Department of Conservation should buy some of his work, according to papers released by DoC under the Official Information Act.
The papers show an intense interest by Sandra Lee in issues related to the Aniwaniwa Visitors' Centre in the Urewera National Park.
One diagram outlines 41 issues about Te Urewera raised by the minister this year for which reports were due.
National's former conservation minister, Nick Smith, said the papers showed Sandra Lee was treating the portfolio "as a personal fiefdom and needs to be pulled into line by the Prime Minister."
Sandra Lee would not comment yesterday other than to say she was seeking legal advice on the interpretation of the papers by some news organisations.
But in the papers she strongly rejects any suggestion that she meant the centre to stock Mr Iti's art.
The visit has already been the centre of controversy in Parliament when it was disclosed that Sandra Lee wanted the Maungapohatu Rd and bridges on it upgraded at an estimated cost of $260,000 when it was not a high DoC priority.
Mr Iti showed her the road during the visit and there was said to be some local resentment at his involvement.
"Sandra Lee, MP, yesterday visited Aniwaniwa escorted and chauffeured by Tame Iti," conservator Peter Williamson said in an e-mail to John Ombler, regional general manager, on January 13.
"The minister's party arrived unannounced other than an official phonecall from the shop at Ruatahuna ...
"Issues raised were the McCahon and the timing of its return, as both Ms Lee and Mr Iti wish to be present ... Mr Iti suggested that the department should buy some of his 'art works'."
The visitors' centre is home to the Colin McCahon Urewera Mural, which was valued at $1.25 million when it was stolen in June 1997.
It was recovered in Auckland and Te Kaha, a friend of Mr Iti, was convicted for the theft.
The painting was returned to Aniwaniwa in March without Sandra Lee's knowledge.
The centre has been upgraded and includes a gallery.
Sandra Lee is due to open it on September 22, when the McCahon will be on show for the first time since the theft.
The centre does not yet sell art work.
"I had no intention for the gallery to become a marketplace for Tame Iti or any other local artist," Sandra Lee wrote in a letter to a member of the Friends of Te Urewera National Park in July, which was among the papers.
"I did suggest it might be in DoC's interest to consider some contemporary Tuhoe artwork displayed at the gallery as well as the McCahon, given the earlier theft and occupation.
"It was hoped that this might reflect an expression of the partnership principle and, indeed, might prove more effective than the new security system purchased by the department to protect the McCahon."
Lee 'plugged Tuhoe art' on Urewera trip
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