The High Court has seen sense and upended the Waitangi Tribunal's summons to minister Karen Chhour over her desire to remove a clause in Oranga Tamariki's terms of business. 

Of course, this should never have got to where it has. 

The High Court judge said the decision does not mean they can't summon people in future. That is the bad news. He also said it doesn’t diminish the tribunals standing. 

That I am afraid, in my eyes, is wrong as well. 

They tried it on and they lost. They overreached and in overreaching they were portraying themselves as more important than they actually are. 

They forgot that at the end of the day two critical things are in play. The first is they don’t actually have the power to tell people what to do when it comes to their decisions. 

The second is the Government is the Government and if they have the numbers, they are in fact the highest court in the land. 

If the Government of the day want to remove a clause in the workings of a department they can. 

As a tribunal, they can ask some questions if they want to. But they don't have the power, or the right, to demand stuff or boss people around, especially when it comes to a minister. 

This is where the activism comes in. One can surely ask if what you come up with is nothing more than an observation or an opinion, why does the taxpayer continue to fund it? 

How many lawyers for how many hours gather and pontificate to satisfy the whims of the agitators, who use the tribunal as a mechanism to make noise and stir trouble? 

A Government must be allowed to govern. 

It's also important to remember the name - tribunal. It's not the Waitangi Court, Supreme, High or district court. It is just a tribunal. 

Crown Law, in challenging the summons, have clearly seen the overreach and as such did the right thing to look to hose it down. 

Given the activism we are increasingly seeing in courts, especially the Supreme Court, this case might have been used as a bit of a test case to put the Government under pressure. 

We can be grateful that didn’t happen. Karen Chhour can get on with her job. 

The Waitangi Tribunal can hopefully read the judgement, take on board the intent and pull their head in. 

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