Kaipara Maori leaders say the Government is stripping assets from the heartland with its cuts to rural court services.
From next year, Dargaville's courthouse will be open only on hearing days instead of five days a week.
A leader of Te Uri o Hau, Mikaera Miru, says it's inevitable more hearings will be held in Whangarei - and for tangata whenua of Kaipara that can mean up to four hours' travelling there and back.
Mr Miru says the cuts will load costs onto those who can least afford them - the rural poor - many of whom are Maori.
