April 04, 2022
No three waters in 1840 says ACT MP
An ACT MP says the whole community should have a say on co-governance.
ACT is calling for a referendum on the proposed governance arrangements for water infrastructure and some parts of the health reforms.
Conservation and firearms spokesperson Nicole McKee says the party is hearing from people who don’t understand what is happening and feel left out.
ACT wants to put its own interpretation of Treaty of Waitangi principles into law because it disagrees with the way the treaty has been interpreted by the Waitangi Tribunal, the courts and successive Governments over the past 40 years.
“When the treaty was signed back in 1840, we didn’t have any water infrastructure at that time. What we would like to see is that where co-governance is given and agreed to it’s in the treaty settlements that redress those issues that iwi have about the way that they were treated by the crown but to do it nationally on so many aspects without having that conversation with the communities is wrong,” Ms McKee says.