Crown consulted Ngāi Tahu ‘as an afterthought’

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Crown consulted Ngāi Tahu ‘as an afterthought’

Years of broken promises prompted Ngāi Tahu to take its High Court claim over freshwater, former kaiwhakahaere Lisa Tumahai says.Giving evidence before Justice Melanie Harland on Friday, Tumahai (Ngāi Tahu, Tainui, Ngāti Hikairo, Ngāti Kahungunu), said the tribe had participated in various Crown programmes reforming water management since settlement in the 1990s. The court action was a last resort.“The reason Ngāi Tahu resorted to litigation was…