February 08, 2015
Council holding crown to account
The New Zealand Maori Council says it will hold the Government to the undertakings it made to the Supreme Court over Maori water rights.
The Government used Waitangi commemorations to announce it would formalise its work with the Iwi Leaders Group on fresh water policy, including case studies, new local clean-up initiatives and policy improvements.
Environment Minister Nick Smith said the Government’s policy is that nobody owns the water, and the work programme is about developing a better way for iwi to be involved in freshwater planning, allocation, pollution control, storage, and clean-up.
Maori Council co-chair Maanu Paul says that’s not what the Crown told the Supreme Court when it was fighting the council-led challenge on water rights.
"Bill English and the Minister for Treaty Settlements, Chris Finlayson, made undertakings on the last day of the Supreme Court (hearing) that they accepted that Maori had interests in water. Then they demanded the Supreme Court direct the tribunal to do the second stage to determine which Maori owned what water," he says.
Mr Paul says the Maori Council is preparing for the second stage of Waitangi Tribunal hearings, which were deferred at the request of the Crown.
Copyright © 2015, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com