April 13, 2022
DOC treaty view out of step with courts
An independent review has slammed the way the Department of Conservation interprets the Treaty of Waitangi.
The Options Development Group was set up to look at the department’s operating rules in the wake of a Supreme Court judgment critical of the way it passed over Ng`ai Tai ki T`amaki when issuing a concession to run tours on Motutapu Island in the Hauraki Gulf.
Group member Dion Tuuta says Section 4 of the Conservation Act is one of the strongest treaty clauses on the books, requiring the department to give effect to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, but that was lost in its day to day application.
The policies were written to give a crown-centric view of the treaty, highlighting the principles of government, self-management and reasonable cooperation.
“They ignore the principles articulated by the courts and the Waitangi Tribunal – the principle of partnership, the principle of active protection, the principle of development for instance. Having those written into the rules reinforces a culture where rangatiratanga is viewed as being subservient to kawanatanga which in turn established a framework where the crown solely determines what is right and what is wrong,” Mr Tuuta says.
He says it’s time to build kawa and tikanga Māori into the system to give a balanced view on what conservation means for Aotearoa New Zealand.