Treaty Principles Bill

Not really sure where to put this.

email from Peter Williams/TPU.


I’ve got some great news: we’ve won Te Mana o Te Wai.



You’ll recall Te Mana o Te Wai came about as a result of David Parker’s National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management and required councils to figure out what the “mana” of the water entailed and how best to preserve it. That included the spiritual health of the water and was, apparently, different in every region or iwi’s rohe (geographical area).



Jordan called me last night and said “turn on Parliament TV right now – the Government is about to snooker the regional councils rushing through their Te Mana o Te Wai rules”.



Despite the new Government being clear that Councils did not have to continue work on the Te Mana o Te Wai work, many (in fact, most) regional councils were ploughing ahead anyway!



Officials were literally spending millions to determine what Te Mana o Te Wai meant and were set to impose rule that would have cost every local ratepayer tens of thousands of dollars.



My local regional council (Otago) is literally set to meet today to formally notify the new plan changes. The Government’s law change last night snookers them.



Last night’s urgent law now prevents councils from notifying new regional freshwater plans until after the Government has developed a new Fresh Water National Policy Statement.



This will draw to a halt plan changes that were likely to be notified over the next few months in Southland, Otago, Canterbury, Wellington and Taranaki. It means that councils will have to wait for the new resource management laws which are expected in the second half of next year.



So while the law change doesn’t unwind any of the existing and complex water quality regulation, at least it stops the new rules about the water’s ‘stipital health’ and the so-called ‘mana of the water’.



As you can imagine, the luvvies were going ballistic on social media last night, and today’s ODT front page is predictably a little over the top.







"The Otago Regional Council will not vote today on tougher rules for the environment after an '11th hour' intervention by the government.



After urging the council to pause work on its plan for the environment since late last year, yesterday the government moved to block any council from approving new rules before a new national policy statement for fresh water management (NPSFM) was in place."



But make no mistake, this is a win for the Taxpayers’ Union (and our friends at the Federated Farmers). Reasonable minds can differ on how stringent water regulation should be – but these rules, based as much on race-based religious considerations as science, were always a step too far.



Jordan tells me that as recently as last week, Government Ministers were equivocating about whether to overrule the Councils and formally withdraw David Parker’s Policy Statement. Ngai Tahu in particular have been pressuring the Government that te mana o te wai is required under the Treaty. Our concern also was that many regional councils would probably try to put through the rules anyway, even if the policy statement was withdrawn.



So last night’s last minute move in Parliament came as a very pleasant surprise. But make no mistake, this win (at the very last minute) should not be underestimated. Just a few months ago, the Nats were still telling the farming sector that te mana o te wai "is required by the Treaty".



So this is a win. Now comes the main event: the replacement Resource Management Act and ensuring that race-based planning and environment laws are rightly put on the scrap heap.

and taking a step back to reality
www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/10/sir_apirana_ngata_on_the_treaty.html
Sir Apirana Ngata is on our $50 note. He was a lawyer and then was the MP for Eastern Maori for almost 40 years. He was Minister of Native Affairs for six years.He made huge contributions to Maori land reform, language and culture.
He also wrote a booklet in 1922 on the Treaty of Waitangi, which NZPCR has usefully published online www.nzcpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/TreatyOfWaitangiBySirApiranaNgata.pdf. Well worth a read to compare to what some today claim the Treaty means.
Some extracts:
   "There was without doubt Maori chieftainship, but it was limited in its scope to its sub-tribe, and even to only a family group. The Maori did not have authority      or a government which could make laws to govern the whole of the Maori Race."
So he says there was no Government in New Zealand prior to the Treaty.
    The main purport was the transferring of the authority of the Maori chiefs for making laws for their respective tribes and sub tribes under the Treaty of     Waitangi to the Queen of England for ever.
He says Article 1 clearly transfers law making authority from the chiefs to the Crown.
    "What is this authority, this sovereignty that is referred to in the second article? It is quite clear, the right of a Maori to his land, to his property, to his     individual right to such possessions whereby he could declare, “This is my land, there are the boundaries, descended from my ancestor so and so, or     conquered by him, or as the first occupier, or so and so gave it to him, or it had been occupied by his descendants down to me. These properties are mine,     this canoe, that taiaha (combination spear and club), that greenstone patu (club), that kumera (sweet potato) pit, that cultivation. These things are mine and do     not belong to anyone else”.
He says the second article is about property rights.
    "This article states that the Maori and Pakeha are equal before the Law, that is, they are to share the rights and privileges of British subjects."
And the third article is about equality.

Chances of anything changing?  

Hopefully high.

But I'm sceptical a/f.  For one, Judith Collins knows way too much about Jagose and visa versa.  

It is nice to see Luxon at least try and make good though, something that seems to have been impossible for those before him.

And yes yes, I should know better, but I delved into the comments section of that article.  'administers self uppercut'... 

Margaret Nixonsays:

24/10/2024 at 10:07 am

I would like Te Pati Maori to take on this issue. I say this with hesitation as I am a descendant of settlers and, given how badly the Pakeha partner has treated the Maori partner to the Treaty of Waitangi, feel reluctant to suggest what TPM should or should not do. However, the torture of the descendants of Maori on such a gross and prolonged basis is an egregious breach of the treaty. By not hearing what the survivors are saying, the Pakeha partner, as represented by the Government, is continuing the breach. I can only hope that the Maori party to the treaty, as represented by TPM, will act on behalf of its own people and on behalf of Pakeha who do not support the Government’s stance.

A former Labour Govt Minister and Commander of the British Empire has been appointed to the Waitangi Tribunal.
“He was first elected to Parliament in 1975, the same year as it passed the Treaty of Waitangi Act and created the Waitangi Tribunal. That is valuable perspective in an institution that has badly drifted in its purpose,” he said.

“He is also an experienced lawyer, MP, and company director, with an extensive knowledge of te ao Māori. He is exactly the sort of person who should be on the Tribunal,”

He also just happens to be the founder of the ACT party, Richard Prebble....
Mwahahahahahaha

www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360464194/former-act-leader-richard-prebble-appointed-waitangi-tribunal

Depressing to watch teeveeinzid again but nice to see Seymour pull the ex netballer up on her bullshit introduction and various opinions throughout the interview.

youtu.be/siqy_IOY2Ws

As for te cowboy, he's looking more and more like an 'merican rapper no?