Iwi Says RMA Reforms Is ‘Open Attack On Māoridom’

Tuesday, 25 March 2025, 7:44 pm
Article: Craig Ashworth - Local Democracy Reporting

A Taranaki iwi says the Government has declared open war on Te Tiriti and Māori by not carrying existing Treaty obligations into its new laws on resource management.

The government yesterday unveiled what it called a “radical” plan to replace the Resource Management Act (RMA) with two new laws: the Planning Act and the Natural Environment Act.

RMA reform minister Chris Bishop told RNZ his new laws would exclude the current RMA requirement to uphold the principles of the Treaty.

Instead the laws would be strongly focused on the rights of property-owners.

"Cabinet has now agreed on the shape of the government's replacement legislation, signalling a radical transition to a far more liberal planning system with less red tape, premised on the enjoyment of property rights,” he said.

Ngāti Ruanui’s Crown-mandated agency said the south Taranaki iwi wasn’t opposed to improving the resource management system.

But Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Ruanui kaiwhakahaere Rachel Arnott said they totally rejected not carrying over Treaty obligations.

“This Government’s move is an open attack on Māoridom.”

Arnott said the move breached the iwi’s Treaty settlement and the Government’s Treaty obligations.

She said excluding mana whenua from key aspects of resource consent applications, despite the negative impact on cultural considerations, would significantly breach Te Tiriti.

“The truth is simply that this Government has an ideological and political commitment to gut Tiriti-guaranteed rights of iwi, hapū and whānau.

Bishop said the Cabinet decided the current first-in first-served allocation of resources including freshwater wasn’t good enough “and so we’ve made the decision to open the door to different allocation methods”.

That includes the possibility of charging for water – in spite of the Crown’s currently-held position that no-one owns the water.

“But there’s a lot of detailed design and policy to go on there, and there’s a lot of issues to do particularly with Māori rights and interests, to work through,” said Bishop.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon refused to be drawn on water rights: “There are a number of parties who have rights and interests in water... I’m not going to get into that detail.”

Luxon said the RMA had “been massively weaponised, it’s not working and so we’re going to cut it.”

“I’m not going to get into conversations are yet to happen as detail is worked out.”

The two bills are due to be introduced by the end of the year and passed before the next election, ready for councils’ long-term plan-making in 2027.

Luxon said his Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka was working on how to unlock productivity from Māori land.

Potaka told media he didn't know about the coalition ruling out the Treaty clause in its RMA reform.

"The first I've heard of it is right now," Potaka told reporters at Parliament on Tuesday morning.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Ruanui Trust manager Graham Young said the deliberate exclusion of Te Tiriti was an ideological shift threatening the “partnership of sovereignty” developed through Parliament, the Waitangi Tribunal and New Zealand’s Courts.

“Make no mistake, this is not about balancing a flawed law and growing the economy: This is about trampling key protections to the benefit of big business.

“I must stress our extreme disappointed that more robust discussions haven’t occurred when it matters the most.”

Arnott said the avalanche of anti-Māori policies over the last 12 months was consistent, and by design.

“Māori rights are being systematically erased by this Government. It is racist step after racist step throughout every proposed legislative change.”

Documents accompanying the RMA reform policy launch say both new laws will presume land use is enabled, unless there’s significant impact on the ability of others to use their land, or on the natural environment.

The Government also said those with resource rights will get to expand them, despite the rejection of first-in first-served resource allocation.

Bishop’s RMA undersecretary Simon Court said the current law’s scope was far too broad, and "allows far too many people to rely on far too many reasons to object and tangle progress in webs of absurd conditions".

The laws aim to streamline planning between councils, allow more standardised consenting and increase the number of "permitted" activities.

It will also set environment limits, which the Government said would provide more certainty around where development should be allowed, while also protecting the environment.

LDR is local body reporting co-funded by RNZ and NZ on Air

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