Turia too quick off the mark

By RUTH BERRY

A staunch statement on the Labour Maori caucus' view of foreshore and seabed plans was put out by Associate Maori Affairs Minister Tariana Turia without being cleared by all her colleagues, Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen said yesterday.

While some members of the caucus supported the statement, it is understood others felt it expressed some views contrary to their own.

There was also concern it made Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia's already difficult job over handling the announcement worse.

The statement was released as Mr Horomia was telling reporters that while there was some way to go, he supported the moves the Government had taken so far to resolve the foreshore and seabed issue.

The statement released by Mrs Turia's office issued a number of carefully written challenges to the Government.

But it said that from discussions with iwi and hapu that day, "it is clear that any attempt to extinguish customary ownership of the foreshore and seabed will create huge conflict for tangata whenua".

Although some MPs may not disagree that hapu or iwi are saying this, several suggested to the Herald yesterday that they would not choose to push that line themselves and disagreed with a number of points in it.

Dr Cullen said the statement "wasn't from the Maori caucus [and] it had not been cleared by the Maori caucus committee as a whole".

He refused to say whether Prime Minister Helen Clark or he had expressed concerns to Mrs Turia.



Maori caucus chairman Mita Ririnui said that although he was aware Mrs Turia was putting the statement out in the caucus' name, Maori MPs did not necessarily agree with its contents.

"There were mixed views."