April 28, 2020
Our Freshwater report ignores Maori interests
The Environment Ministry and Statistics NZ have drawn fire for failing to consult with iwi or Māori organisations about a major policy document on the state of the nation’s freshwater.
Lisa Te Heuheu from Te Wai Māori Trust, a body set up under the Māori Fisheries Act to advocate for Māori on the issue, says that’s not good enough.
She says the ministries’ excuse was they wanted to keep the Our Freshwater 2020 report independent by using a panel of scientists and mātauranga experts.
"Our gripe with the ministry isn't to do with those particular independents. It's really to do with their process and the framework they failed to establish to include wider consultation and engagement. At the end of the day if fails again to pick up the values and concepts that really mean something to us as iwi and hapā and generally Māori, tangata whenua," she says.
Lisa Te Heuheu says there is a lack of accountability by crown agencies who keep making these sorts of blunders, despite the establishment of Te Arawhiti, the Ministry for Crown Māori Relationships.
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