The head of the Crown Forestry Rental Trust says politics have crept into the body that helps fund Waitangi Tribunal hearings.
Angela Foulkes is under pressure from the Maori Council and Whatitiri Maori Reserve Trust in Whangarei to resign.
The calls follow a decision by a judge declaring that Sir Eddie Durie, a Crown Forestry Rental Trust member and Maori Council co-chair, is not conflicted through his wife Donna Hall representing some claimants.
But Ms Foulkes is refusing to go and says the Maori Council members have politicised the trust over the past nine months
She says having a trust that doesn't play politics is very important for Maori and the Treaty Settlement process.
