October 16, 2012
Government water exploits bad faith
The lawyer for the New Zealand Maori Council says the way the Government is exploiting divisions in Maoridom over water shows the lack of good faith it has brought to the state asset sale process.
The council and other claimants say any residual Maori proprietary rights in water need to be determined and accounted for before any sale of Mighty River Power shares can take place.
Lawyer Felix Gieringer says there are inevitable differences of opinion among Maori as to what those rights may be, but the Government is only talking to groups it already gets on with, rather than those challenging it.
"Maori society is not one that all comes under one great authority. But that’s what Maori society is; no one wants to change that. People who come along and say we have to do something about that really don’t want Maori culture. The real answer here is that a good faith government wouldn’t be exploiting that. It would be dealing with Maori in good faith and trying to resolve these issues instead of trying to win them," Mr Geiringer says.
The council says Maori have been left with no choice than to challenge the government’s asset sales programme through the courts.
It says it will continue to canvas Maori views over the next few days in an attempt to get unanimity, and it will also seek funding to mount the case.