A GRIFT

Far North district councillor, Davina Smolders, has described cultural impact reports and co-governance agreements as a “grift” (a swindle, scam, or confidence game). The comments were made in an interview with Heather du Plessis-Allen on Newstalk ZB when she alleged the council was about to sign agreements with five iwi that included sovereignty clauses.

This follows the signing of a “Relationship Protocol” with Ngapuhi in August last year that recognises their status as “the sovereign people of Aotearoa/New Zealand” and acknowledges the 1985 Declaration of Independence, and includes open-ended payments to Ngapuhi.

The effect of the agreement is to embed each iwi into the decision-making process of the council, with all of the “engagement” costs paid by ratepayers. 

Smolders said the agreements were “not co-governance, but rather outright iwi governance… it's going to affect everybody...if you want to move dirt, you have to pay for cultural impact reports, it's a grift - pure and simple. It's holding development hostage."

The terms 'grift', 'standover tactics', and 'blackmail' have also been used to describe a $475 million demand made by a local hapū to the Port of Tauranga. The hapū is seeking compensation for the alleged adverse impacts on its cultural obligations, along with a perpetual share of the port's revenue.

Minister Shane Jones said these types of demands were “exploding across New Zealand…we have to call time on this type of behaviour”.

The time to call time on cultural grifting has long passed.