August 12, 2013
Cautious welcome for RMA changes
The Māori Party is cautiously welcoming proposed changes to the Resource Management Act.
Co-leader Tariana Turia says the party has successfully fought to retain a Treaty of Waitangi clause in the bill, after National promised to remove it.
However, it is disappointed that Māori are offered a seat on collaborative stakeholder groups, rather than the 50-50 co-governance model recommended by the Land and Water Forum.
She says the days are long gone when effective participation with iwi becomes interpreted as one seat at the table.
Mrs Turia says there is still uncertainty over the working arrangements councils will be required to establish with iwi, but the concept of kaitiakitanga is retained in the bill after being minimised in the discussion document.
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