Ma¯ori water rights boil over possible

Ma¯ ori ownership of freshwater is set to boil over at Waitangi this year unless the Government commits to addressing iwi rights and interests.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will meet with the Iwi Chair Forum (ICF) ahead of Waitangi events on February 5 and 6 and forum adviser Willie Te Aho has made it clear the group will go back to the Supreme Court if there’s no progress on iwi rights to fresh water.

While Labour talked up dealing with the issue ahead of the election, any hope of a freshwater tax and Ma¯ori interests being recognised came to a grinding halt when it did a coalition deal with NZ First, which is strongly against the idea.

That opposition remains with NZ First MP and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones saying on Thursday, ‘‘Halley’s Comet will be back’’ before he met with the ICF.

In 2013 freshwater rights came to the fore after the failure of the Ma¯ori Council and other claimants’ legal attempts to stop the partial sale of Mighty River Power.

At the time the Supreme Court noted that ‘‘recognition of Ma¯ ori interests in water is clearly still a work in progress’’ and since then the ICF has maintained the Waitangi Tribunal decided iwi rights and interest in water were akin to ownership.

Te Aho says it’s not a case of whether or not the Government ‘‘should’’ deal with Ma¯ori water rights but that they ‘‘must’’.

He said the Supreme Court were clear in 2013 that they dismissed the case ‘‘on the basis of undertakings given by the Crown that they would address iwi rights and interests in freshwater’’.

‘‘If they don’t then we will go back to the Supreme Court and certainly iwi specifically will say, you dismissed it in 2013 on this understanding and that understanding hasn’t been addressed so we need you to make a determination.’’

Environment Minister David Parker said ‘‘time will tell’’ whether the Government is in an impossible position on this issue given NZ First oppose recognising Ma¯ ori water rights.

‘‘I would never take away anyone’s right to go to court. That’s a matter for them but we’re trying to work through these issues responsibly. They’re very difficult issues as the last government found but we’re determined to find a way through.’’

Parker said they would deal with the issue ‘‘carefully’’ and he has an ‘‘ongoing relationship’’ with the ICF that he ‘‘values’’.

National Party leader Bill English said there’s been ‘‘little legal action between Maori and the Crown’’ in the last decade because it always took the view water issues were best addressed through the political process.

‘‘We could be on a path now where legal action becomes more common and therefore we’re at the mercy of the courts because the Government can’t get its act together because it’s fundamentally split over Maori issues.’’

He said a number of Maori voted for the Government with the ‘‘expectation they’d at least get a hearing’’.

‘‘It’s an issue that is coming to a bit of a head and some Maori have some pretty assertive views about it.’’

‘‘I think it is likely to be a problem for the government because they have a range of views, not just NZ First who would probably be opposed to it but across Labour and the Greens there would probably be views about Maori rights as well,’’ he said.

Jones said he met with iwi in Hawke’s Bay recently who want to know what the Government will do about access to local water storage to enhance the productivity of Ma¯ ori land.

‘‘That matter is outstanding and whether such localised issues would be in or out of the regional fund is analysis that is still ongoing,’’ he said.

‘‘I would say on the broader question of water, when consultants such as Mr Te Aho purport to represent 15 per cent of the population, who are the Ma¯ori he’s talking for?’’

‘‘There’s no upside in bluster and threats that carry no mandate,’’ he said.

The ICF is meeting in Wellington this week and Ma¯ ori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta, Whanau Ora Minister Peeni Henare and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage will attend on Friday to ‘‘watch and listen’’ to iwi concerns. Te Aho said normally ministers would ‘‘come to meetings prepared to respond to some of the issues we’ve flagged prior to the meeting’’ but in this instance they made it clear they would be taking a ‘‘listening brief’’.

A number of the Government’s priorities were already clear from the 100-day plan and other issues, including the Ngapuhi settlement, were already being worked through by ministers, he said.

‘‘We know other issues like freshwater they need to really reconcile the position that they want to take because again, they’re focusing on water quality, not necessarily allocation, and they’re issues they need to get their heads around in the lead up to Waitangi.’’