WASHINGTON: Ngati Whatua wants to buy the $1.1 billion Ports of Auckland and is talking of joining other iwi and a financial giant to mount an ambitious approach to Mayor Phil Goff about a deal. Ngati Whatua Orakei Trust spokesman Ngarimu Blair issued a surprise statement this morning: “Ngati Whatua Orakei has long harboured an ambition to buy back our former land and Waitemata seabed.” “We have made this known over many generations to every incoming mayor and, more recently, signalled this to Phil Goff before and after the election.”If the opportunity arises we would like to buy it; we are the natural owner and we would do the right thing by the city,” Blair said.
Ngati Whatua Orakei understood the wider public interest in the Waitemata and the desire of many people to keep the precious land in the hands of Aucklanders, he said. “We are committed and able to put together a consortium that can achieve that goal while also releasing much-needed capital to continue to develop our great city. We look forward to raising this prospect again with the mayor,” Blair said. “The consortium could include other iwi and the NZ Super Fund [NZSF].”The mayor responded by saying the land was not for sale.
