Paul Majurey has led efforts for Ngāti Maru through the Maratūāhu and Hauraki Collectives to lay claim and gain mana whenua status in vast swathes of the upper North Island through a combination of direct and overlapping Treaty claims.
These assertions of mana whenua by the various groups Majurey leads are designed to cement his and Ngati Maru’s hold where they have no traditional place. Succeeding will result in Majurey wielding political influence in other iwis’ areas, and having a say on every major decision there.
In doing so, he has been aided and abetted by the Crown’s shonky processes, which have enabled him to get away with utilising tenuous claims to “prove” mana whenua status. This has caused enormous problems for many iwi – including some in the Marutūāhu and Hauraki collectives that he supposedly represents.
Some iwi have fought back and won, while others have been less successful. In other cases, he has manipulated supposed connections with iwi to his and Ngati Maru’s own ends. His most successful move involved gaining Ngāti Maru inclusion in the Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Act 2014. In addition to giving Ngāti Maru access (along with the Collective’s other iwi and hapu) right of first refusal on all Crown land that becomes available for 172 years, the Crown declaring Ngāti Maru “mana whenua” in Auckland gave Paul direct access to significant power – something he has exploited to the maximum.
The Treaty settlement process has resulted in Māoridom becoming increasingly corporatized since the 1990s, enabling the likes of Paul Majurey to capitalize on shifting the power base away from traditional elders and leaders. As one observer sagely noted of Majurey: “In the modern corporate world, he stands above kaumatua.”
Ngāti Maru’s disproportionately large influence in Tāmaki Makaurau
Population statistics reveal a very interesting picture of the extent of Paul Majurey’s and Ngāti Maru’s influence in Tāmaki Makaurau.
In 2018 an estimated 5331 people affiliated to Ngāti Maru ki Hauraki. That’s only 0.6% of all Māori, making them one of NZ’s smallest iwi. The 2018 census showed 181,194 people who identified as Māori lived in Auckland. Around 1572 – or 0.87% of those people affiliated to Ngāti Maru.
These tiny numbers are quite telling in the context of Auckland Council recognizing 19 iwi and hapū (including Ngāti Maru) as holding mana whenua status in the region. So why is it that Ngāti Maru people hold these key roles in Auckland Council-related entities, especially given Ngāti Maru’s very tenuous historical links to Auckland?
- Majurey Chairs Tūpuna Maunga Authority – a co-governance body that administers many of Auckland’s volcanic cones
- Majurey Chairs Eke Panuku – Auckland Council’s property development CCO
- His righthand man David Taipare Chairs the Independent Māori Statutory Board
- Majurey is a member (former chair and key influencer in) the Hauraki Gulf Forum
Treaty Settlement and Other Disruptions
See below for three examples of his colonizing behaviours. But other opportunities are coming up, including Manukau Harbour and Tikapa Firth of Thames.
Aotea Great Barrier Island
Ngātiwai has for years been fighting Paul Majurey’s encroachment attempts, resulting in a Waitangi Tribunal finding that they were owed an apology by the Crown. Read more.
Tauranga Moana
It took a protest to Parliament before the Crown really started to listen to Tauranga iwi concerns about Paul Majurey’s push for Hauraki iwi to gain mana whenua status in the Tauranga rohe. Read more
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
Aided and abetted by the Crown, Paul Majurey has well and truly got his claws into Tamaki Makaurau but Ngāti Whātua Ōraki is fighting back. Read more.
Trampling all over other iwi to get what he wants
Once you know Majurey’s modus operandi, you can spot his operational signature in most everything he does. For example, he uses his race when convenient yet doesn’t follow tikanga.
“… it seems to me that Majurey has not [sic] interest in meeting with Tauranga Moana. He complains about us reneging, but doesn’t want to meet with us about that aforementioned agreement. In my mind, this indicates he is not sincere about reaching agreement with us, and we are a tool he is using to get the Crown to agree to the best possible deal for Pare Hauraki.”
– Tauranga Moana commentator – View source
“It is not for Mr Majurey to conclude that because Ngātiwai do not accept that Marutūāhu iwi have interests on Aotea that our differences remain irreconcilable and as such “a further meeting would not change the view of either iwi”. This is a striking example of a complete disregard for a tikanga (or any) process.”
– Haydn Edmonds on behalf of Ngātiwai Trust Board and the iwi of Ngātiwai – View source
“We are not alone as the Tauranga iwi in the south and Ngati Wai in the north too are fighting incursions from the same Thames-based collective of tribes. It is not Ngati Whatua who are holding back Mr Majurey’s expansive hoped for Treaty settlements – it is his own culturally bankrupt negotiation strategy that is.”
– Ngarimu Blair, Chair of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Trust – View source
“The disguising of one’s behaviour in words, may be encouraged in some areas of the legal process, but it is not when applying tikanga Māori and kawa. Our language is sacred and must not be misused and disrespected. It is my honestly held belief that Ngāti Maru, who Majurey represents, has done significant damage to whanaungatanga, certainly with those iwi who happen to be their neighbours.” [Comment in response to a media article where Majurey discussed the importance of whanaungatanga – yet again!]
– Joe Pihema, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei – View source
Majurey's Moves 
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