Editorial: Making best of bad job

Aerial shot of the shipwrecked Rena

Te Arawa has a unique opportunity to make something good out of a bad situation and it looks like that's what most of the iwi wants to do.

When the MV Rena sank on Otaiti (Astrolabe reef) in October 2011, there was an understandable national outcry, and it also proved the inadequacies of the country's ability to clean up after such a disaster.

But to say Te Arawa are "sell-outs" is a bit rich because, if they follow through with plans to build a marine centre for the protection of the local ecosystem, their possible $1.25 million compensation package could provide jobs and a better understanding of the area, opening up opportunities for future generations.

And I'm not sure what say they have over Motiti Island, if any, as they are not the iwi responsible for the island. Those decisions have to be made by the individual hapu who have been affected by the disaster.

It would be worse - if in removing the entire wreck the reef was damaged even more, it would just add to the problem - and it now seems the marine ecosystem has made a new home in what remains of the wreckage.

This is the opinion of professional diver Joe Te Kowhai, who worked on the Deep Horizon (BP) oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.

"The remnants of the wreck have integrated themselves really well into the structure of the reef, because there is a lot of fauna," Mr Te Kowhai has said.

Different iwi are going to have different opinions about what should be done and that is their right. How each of them deals with the latest round of resource consent applications is entirely up to them.

But whoever is in control must make sure they consult with everyone involved and make sure they understand why they are doing it.

Transparency is the key to any decision-making process that affects many different entities.

However, individual hapu and iwi have to make their own decisions. They could get together to form a united front, but it seems that time has passed.