May 09, 2024
Iwi rise against fast track bill
Te Tai Hauāuru MP Debbie Ngarewa-Packer says she was proud to see her constituents tell the crown what they thought about the Fast Track Approvals Bill.
Te Atiawa, Ngāti Toa Rangatira and Ngati Raukawa led a protest to Parliament yesterday where they presented petitions to ministers Tama Potaka and Chris Bishop and warned developers to expect more protests if the taiao the threatened by rushed planning.
The Maori Party co-leader says the speed of reform is alarming iwi in her rohe.
“They were denied the opportunity to actually be consulted, to sit down and kōrero. Some of them are PSGEs (Post Settlement Governance Entity), their settlement documents state that they are to be engaged with anything that’s happening in their takiwā, they don’t even know the projects that are going to be chosen. So we’ve seen the most undemocratic, directorial behavior from the government,” Ms Ngarewa Packer says.