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The Government is expected to give its response to the Waitangi Tribunal’s water claims report today.
If it rejects the tribunal’s recommendation to taihoa on selling shares in state power companies until the issue of Maori water rights is resolved, the New Zealand Maori Council and other claimants have indicated they intend to take the issue into the High Court.
Willie Te Aho, a negotiator for Waikato iwi Ngati Koroki Kahukura, says other iwi are looking closely not only at the water case but at framework agreements initialed last week with Urewera and Whanganui River claimants.
That’s because the Government’s defence is likely to be it is it has found other ways to recognise Maori interests in lakes and rivers.
“We’re waiting to see what concept of title the Crown has come up with, and I say that from a Ngati Koroki Kahukura perspective because what’s good for Urewera, what’s good for the national park is going to be good for Maungatautari so we are waiting with bated breath to see the detail of some of these agreements,” Mr Te Aho says.
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