The Supreme Court decision

February 27th, 2013 at 3:10 pm by David Farrar

The Supreme Court has unanimously ruled all decisions on the share sales are reviewable for consistency with Treaty obligations.

Not yet clear though if the actions have been deemed legal. More to come.

UPDATE: But it appears they have said the sale will not materially affect Govt’s ability to settle Treaty claims. Hence it looks like the Government can proceed.

Note this is based on tweets from those in court room.

Yes, a number of sources are saying the Maori Council have effectively lost.

The Government will be very relieved.

Tags: , , ,

Posted in NZ Politics | 43 Comments »

An insightful question

November 27th, 2012 at 9:00 am by David Farrar

Stuff reports on the Maori Council court case:

Justice Young said he did not understand why the Government needed to act before the transfer because water rights were determined under the Resource Management Act and the Government could change that any time in favour of Maori. ”I don’t follow why it matters who owns Mighty River Power.”

Exactly. Contact Energy was sold totally and this is no way impacted any rights around water. The mechanisms for recognizing water rights are not linked to the ownership status.

One can of course not judge the outcome off one possible isolated comment, but it is heartening to see the Judge identify the core issue.

Tags: , ,

Posted in NZ Politics | 27 Comments »