Iwi’s fast-track message to Govt
Ngāti Toa Rangatira is warning the Government and developers of future protests if the proposed fasttrack consenting legislation leads to negative consequences for whānau and the environment.
Hundreds marched on Parliament yesterday, approaching silently as a symbol of the land and sea not having a voice to respond to what might come from the Government’s aim to speed up consenting and allow infrastructure development to occur quicker.
The bill is before select committee. It has been widely criticised for the power it gave three ministers to decide which projects were fast-tracked.
Normally protesters are confined to Parliament’s lawns. This time, they covered the forecourt — something for which protest organisers Te Pāti Māori received a telling-off by Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee but it appeared that was the extent of the reprimand.
Members of Te Pāti Māori, the Green Party and Labour stood alongside the protest group. All three Opposition parties oppose the bill. Mā ori Development Minister Tama Potaka and RMA Minister Chris Bishop received the protest.
Ngāti Toa chief executive Helmut Modlik, addressing the ministers and the crowd through a speaker, said his communities lived every day with the “pollution” caused by previous fast-track legislation. “Our message therefore first to you today, to you ministers and to this Government, is that such harm must never happen again,” he said.
He referenced the development that led to the degradation of TeAwarua-o-Porirua [Porirua Harbour] as evidence of the harm that could be caused.
“Ministers, if you want to see what fast-track development does, come to Porirua and see what mess it makes.
“I want to swim in Te Awaruao-Porirua before they put me in a hole.”
Modlik talked of the shared frustration iwi and Government had with consenting delays and its cost, but he sent a warning to ministers and any developers with projects that would have serious environmental impacts.
“I tell you, this generation of Ngāti Toa won’t allow that to happen,” he said.
Bishop said he had heard the iwi’s challenge. “As I’ve said many times, we’re open to constructive, sensible changes to the bill to ameliorate some of the concerns that Ngā ti Toa Rangatira and others have. We will work our way through that in a respectful, constructive way, in a manaenhancing way.”