Maori Party welcomes iwi inclusion in water report

The Maori Party is pleased to see the views and advice of iwi coming through in a major report on freshwater management to be considered by the Government.

“All too often our people have been left out of local, regional and national discussions on freshwater,” Maori Party spokesperson Te Ururoa Flavell said.

“And yet iwi uphold the legacy of their roles and responsibilities as tangata tiaki, to advocate for an approach to land and water use that maintains, as a matter of first principles, the goal of sustaining or restoring healthy mauri within waterways.”

Mr Flavell said tangata whenua were well aware of the need to leave a legacy of clean and healthy waterways for coming generations.

“It is essential to our tikanga because without clean water the land gets sick, we get sick and we lose the ability to fish and harvest food to feed our families.

“There is an explicit message emerging from this report: iwi seek formal participation in the setting of strategic development priorities at the national level.

“They have an absolute interest in the clean-up of degraded waterways, in participation in governance arrangements around water use and in specific plans that give effect to iwi interests and values.

“We have seen an impressive model emerge through agreements such as the Waikato-Tainui Settlement, which reflects the Crown-iwi Treaty relationship.

“We expect all future arrangements to continue to enable whanau, hapu and iwi to to play an active part in the freshwater management processes.”

The report Land and Water Forum: A Fresh Start for Freshwater looked at freshwater management. It was put together by a forum of more than 180 groups which included five iwi – Te Arawa, Ngai Tahu, Tuwharetoa, Waikato-Tainui and Whanganui.

ENDS

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