December 30, 2021
Māori voice deal breaker for water reforms
The chair of the Waikato Tainui, Te Arataura executive says iwi support for the Government’s Three Waters refom will depend on Māori having a voice in all levels of management and decision making.
Linda Te Aho says reform is needed because councils have put short-term politics ahead of much-needed investment in water infrastructure.
The reforms are a chance for a new governance framework for fresh water, waste water and stormwater.
“We support the need for reform because we know the model is broken but there are a number of issues and concerns that we have raised with the minister, one of which is having a meaninful voice at every level of decision-making,” Ms Te Aho says.
She says Tainui had to push hard to get a member appointed to the reform working group.
It’s now seeking to have Māori on the transition unit that will implement the transfer of the infrastructure across to new entities as well as directorships on the entities themselves.
“We want that to be an open process where we avoid the Government saying ‘here is the reform, here are the people we have picked to run this thing.’ We want to be able to nominate people we think have the right sets of skills including expertise in kaupapa such as Te Mana o Te Wai but also have accountability back to iwi and have a knowledge of iwi,” Ms Te Aho says.
She says the appointments process for the Māori Health Authority board provides a precedent.
Linda Te Aho say the Waikato Tainui rohe will come under more than one of the proposed new regional entities.