April 17, 2023
Firm stand on water applauded
Waikato Tainui executive chair Tukoroirangi Morgan says changes to the Three Waters reform preserve the Māori voice in water infrastructure decisions.
The revised Affordable Water Reform will set up 10 entities around the country, whose boards of management will be selected by groups with equal numbers of council and iwi representatives.
Mr Morgan chairs Waipuna ā Rangi, the body set up under the original reform plan to represent iwi in the Area One water entity covering the country north of the Bombay Hills.
“I’m pretty stoked the Government held fast to this 50/50 split. It is our view that our people should be engaged at the highest level, that sitting across the table with our council counterparts is hugely crucial. It was promised under the treaty so we have now seen the amplification of that,” he says.
Mr Morgan applauds the Government for standing up to efforts by National and ACT to turn the need for water infrastructure reform into an issue of co-governance and race.