Waikato-Tainui has ruled out investing in its own meat processing factories as a way of protecting the jobs of a mainly Maori workforce embroiled in industrial action at Affco's North Island plants.
Workers at the eight plants have been locked out and on strike for over two months.
Chair of Te Arataura, the iwi executive board, Tom Roa says he doesn't think there would be any significant benefit from iwi members investing in the meat industry.
He says the raupatu (land confiscations) destroyed the tribe's economic land base and the agricultural expertise of the late 1800s and as a consequence it is no longer primarily a farming iwi.
