Mike Butler: Airport share offered to Mana Ahuriri

Questions raised by Mana Ahuriri’s bid to get their name included in that of the Hawke’s Bay Airport led to the revelation that the government had quietly offered that group a 50 percent shareholding of the airport.

Mana Ahuriri signed an agreement in principle on December 19, 2013, that includes financial redress of $19.5-million. The Hawke’s Bay Airport posted a net worth of $16.6-million and annual revenue of $4.01-million in its 2014 annual report. (1)

Mike Butler: Uproar at airport’s new Maori name

Hawke’s Bay residents were hostile to the news, on Monday, that their airport would be known as the Ahuriri Airport Hawke’s Bay to satisfy a request from treaty settlement claimants Mana Ahuriri.

The name-change (the latest in a series that includes Whanganui, Te Wai Pounamu, Te Ika a Maui, Aoraki Mount Cook and Taranaki Mount Egmont) prompted comments on the Hawke’s Bay Today newspaper website like “why change the name? If it aint broke, don’t fix it” and “Again, NZ panders to a minority group of radicals.