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The manager of Taranaki Iwi Trust is urging East Coast iwi and hapū to learn as much as they can about the oil and gas industry before the rigs go up beside their mārae.
The Government is promoting exploration on the coast, sparking protests from some hapū.
Liana Poutu says a big part of running iwi in Taranaki is dealing with oil and gas permits, with many operators moving towards production.
She says most of the risk is probably at the exploratory phase, when operators are still unsure of what resource is there.
“As intensive as that kind of engagement might be, it’s really important that they understand every aspect of it so then they can respond, whether it’s mitigating or whether it’s monitoring. There are heaps of things to be done in this phase and certainly our advice is to get in there early and try and understand it as best as they can,” she says.
Liana Poutu says the proposed changes to the Resource Management Act and new regulations for New Zealand's exclusive economic zone are also creating extra work for iwi.
Copyright © 2013, Uma Broadcasting Ltd
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