Fight for Control of Water
Tuku Morgan has written to the Waikato Regional Council Chairperson, Pamela Storey, in relation to the;
WAIKATO (AND WAIPAA) RIVER FRESHWATER REVIEW PROCESS:
UPHOLDING THE WAIKATO RIVER SETTLEMENT
In his letter the first paragraph states:
“I write to express my deep concerns regarding the Freshwater Policy Review (FPR) process presently being administered by the Waikato Regional Council (Council). It has come to my attention that there are several important issues that need to be urgently addressed.”
He then comments;
“The Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Act 2010 (River Settlement Act) (together comprising the Waikato River Settlement), established a unique legal framework which fundamentally alters the way in which the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) ¹, and many other natural resource statutes, apply and operate within the Waikato River catchments.”
He goes on to say that the “Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Act 2010” establishes:
- a co-governance and co-management regime for the Waikato River which includes: provision for an integrated River management plan between Waikato-Tainui, the Regional Council and certain Crown agencies; and
- Joint management agreements (JMAs) between Waikato-Tainui and local authorities relating to planning, consenting and other processes under the RMA and Local Government Act.
Whilst it does establish a co-management role in relation to the Waikato River it does not in any way establish a co-governance role.
He goes on to say;
“it is deeply concerning that the collaborative arrangements between the Council and the River Iwi have not been stood up within the context of the FPR for the Waikato and Waipaa River catchments as initially anticipated” and;
“That it is the view of Waikato-Tainui (and indeed it is the view of all the River Iwi), these arrangements are crucial for meaningful engagement and direct involvement in plan development and decision-making processes. I therefore urge the Council to commit to upholding our co-management arrangements with immediate effect.”
He also states;
“In the interim, Waikato-Tainui must necessarily reserve its rights in relation to taking such action as it considers necessary to protect its rights and interests under the River Settlement, and uphold the commitments in its JMA with the Council. However, I sincerely hope that recourse to legal proceeding can be avoided and that we can find a mutually acceptable way forward in terms of the FPR.”
“We further put you on notice that the changes to the NPS-FM proposed by this Government, including announced proposals to dilute or disapply Te Mana o te Wai, are inconsistent with, and therefore yield to Te Ture Whaimana and the associated principle of Te Mana o te Awa within the Waikato and Waipaa River catchments.
I therefore also request that the Council takes immediate steps to separate its FPR process from the WRA process to review Te Ture Whaimana. This is required to maintain the integrity of both review processes and avoid any further confusion.”
So what can the ratepayers of the Waikato Region take from this letter?
I believe it is just another attempt to try to achieve a co-governance role which was not part of the original Settlement Act and a further attempt to implement Iwi control through the use of Te Mana o te Wai statements.
He is trying to use the Settlement Act to circumvent the current governments announced proposal to stop the use of Te Mana o te Wai statements and attempting to use the WRC Freshwater Policy Review process to achieve this outcome.
If the Waikato Regional Council is not strong enough to resist this attempt to wrest control of the water in the Waikato from the ratepayers then it is up to the Government to act to shut down this attempt to exert a race based control over the water resources.
Whilst I fully support actions to restore the health of the River I cannot support this letter from Mr. Morgan, as I firmly believe it is nothing more than a thinly disguised attempt to gain control of the water resources and the first step in trying to gain race based co-governance.
He is using a subtle coercion to attempt to gain this outcome by his suggestion that they may resort to legal action to try to achieve their desired outcome.
The Waikato River Settlement Act was designed to achieve the overarching purpose of restoring and protecting the health and wellbeing of the Waikato River for future generations.
Yet the tone of this letter is all about control and very little about restoring or protecting the health of the river.
Surely it is time that they stopped spending other people’s money on legal actions & self-aggrandising schemes and trying to achieve control (in the process causing more racial disharmony & division in our country) and spent more time and effort in trying to enhance the health of the river.