Subj : Rift with Gisborne Mayor causes Iwi to to withdraw from unity agreemen
To   : All
From : News Person
Date : Sat Feb 24 2024 01:28 pm

The chief executive of Te Aitanga a Mahaki says he and his iwi have cut off
all future engagement with Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz.


Willie Te Aho outlined his reasons in a mass email to the council and media
on Thursday.


The reluctance to work with the mayor began immediately as Te Aho withdrew
the iwi presence from the "Tairawhiti Tomorrow Together" summit yesterday.


"We will work with the council, just not the mayor," Mr Te Aho told The
Gisborne Herald.


"As far as we're concerned, they take the place of the Crown in terms of
local government activities, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi means we must be an
active partner."


In his email, he said he did not dislike the mayor but found her actions
arrogant and disingenuous.


"The Mayor just doesn't get iwi, and in my view, she never will."


Mayor Rehette Stoltz refused to comment on the specific accusations.

"I don't intend to respond to personal attacks on me. I welcome robust
discussions, but the engagement should be respectful.


"My focus is to continue working constructively with Tairawhiti iwi and all
members of our community to ensure our region heals and ultimately thrives.


"While there are matters that need to be discussed, I am not willing to do
that through the media."


Te Aho said Stoltz had acted to change the working relationship without
consultation.


"Iwi and the council were part of a collective called Rau Tipu Rau Ora to see
our way through the tricky times of Covid, and that was the vehicle we used
when the cyclone hit last February.


"Without discussing it with her council, she withdrew from the partnership
that had led us through the Covid years and decided to do her own approach.


"When I notified the mayor that this shocked me, she quickly held a council
meeting to inform them of the new approach."


Te Aho said this was just one example of disingenuous acts from the mayor.


"Excluding ourselves from the summit does not mean we do not want unity,"
said Te Aho.


"We just don't want people to think we are an active partner when we have not
been treated like one."


Te Aitanga a Mahaki have also excluded themselves from the Kotahitanga
agreement signed in July 2023 - an agreement that the council and iwi would
work together in good faith... but "she's not acting in good faith", he said.


Te Aho also claimed the mayor failed to deliver promised information.


"When you have to follow up someone to get the information that they agreed
to provide, that leads you to say, `oh, she didn't really mean it when she
met with us'.


"She was just saying it to appease us."


Te Aho said, "I won't work with her, which means that we'll look at an
independent party that can assist us to achieve a bilateral outcome for our
iwi and the council."


LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air

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