PM, iwi group avoid vexed water issues
Ma¯ ori freshwater rights are still on the table but neither the prime minister nor iwi leaders say it is a priority right now.
A Government delegation led by Jacinda Ardern arrived at Waitangi yesterday for her first official meeting with the Iwi Chairs Forum ahead of Waitangi commemorations next week.
Freshwater rights have been a bone of contention at the forum for the past decade but Ardern said following her meeting that the emphasis was on water quality, not rights and interests over it.
She said who owned water did not come up but, given how long the issue had been around, she expected it would continue to be a feature.
‘‘There is a particular emphasis from this Government on improving water quality in New Zealand and that’s long been the position of Ma¯ori, and that was the focus in the meeting today.’’
She said ministers were looking at policy around a levy on companies who export bottled water but she would not pre-empt when that might happen.
‘‘Our position continues to be the same. Everybody has a stake in water, but we acknowledge particularly Ma¯ ori do.’’
She denied the Government had put the issue in the ‘‘too-hard basket’’ – it was a case of being too early to say what the result of any policy might mean for Ma¯ ori.
The forum chairman Maahia Nathan said the leaders ran out of time to address many of the issues but in terms of freshwater rights he did not think it was a ‘‘priority at the moment’’.
‘‘Unfortunately there wasn’t enough time for us to have a debate around some of the issues. We didn’t quite get through our presentations we’d organised for today.
‘‘Obviously time was against us but I’m not too sure you could describe some of the issues as sticky. I think there’s a willingness to work together on some of these issues and ensure they do line up,’’ he said.
He described Ardern’s visit as ‘‘warm’’ and ‘‘there was nothing contentious in what she said’’.
Nathan acknowledged that if individual iwi wanted to push for rights to freshwater being used by bottling companies then that was for them to do.
He disagreed the issue had been fobbed off by the Government, saying it was early days and the first meeting and ‘‘not much was going to happen as a consequence of that’’.
The meeting touched on a number of issues, including child poverty, housing, employment, conservation and climate change.
Nathan said the creation of the Crown/Ma¯ori relations portfolio was a ‘‘huge step in the right direction’’.
‘‘There has been areas in terms of how iwi engage with the Crown that have been lacking. It’s an important appointment and will go a long way in terms of addressing some of those tensions that existed in the path.’’
Ardern said she was ‘‘heartened’’ by the meeting, which started with a name suggestion for her baby of Waimirirangi, which is symbolic as she is known as the Queen of Nga¯ puhi.
Nga¯puhi Treaty negotiations was not raised but Treaty Negotiations Minister Andrew Little will meet again tomorrow with the groups involved to discuss mandate issues.
Hone Sadler, who chairs the group with the mandate, says he thinks a settlement by 2020 is achievable and Ardern said she was approaching it with ‘‘optimism’’.
Little said the feedback he’d received was that Nga¯puhi would prefer one settlement, rather than dividing it up into smaller groups, which National Party leader Bill English said was more than likely needed to achieve a conclusion.
‘‘It’s not the approach the Crown is taking, and it’s not the approach we want to take,’’ Little said.
‘‘Nga¯ puhi is the author of its own future. I think one settlement is totally achievable but it has to be on the right basis and on the right terms.’’