Category: Politics
They say nothing is more certain in life than death and taxes. For governments, charged with the task of deciding how to spend our tax money, their choices can indeed mean the difference between life and death.
It is now clear that Iwi Participation Agreements have been designed to provide a mechanism by which any iwi, any where in the country, can demand the right to become joint or full resource management consenting authorities for the control of water and other natural resources in their area. No other law changes will be necessary.
The proposed amendments to the Resource Management Act announced just a few days ago make it abundantly clear that we are well down the track of accepting that we are not really one people at all, but two distinct groups with different political rights.
Far too many tribal members are isolated from the mainstream and live on the fringes of society, where they are detached from education, suffer poor health, lack the skills needed to get a good job – and are burdened with a permanent sense of grievance.
As you read this newsletter, the New Zealand Centre for Political Research’s public information campaign outlining the government’s intention to allow Maori control of fresh water is getting ready to roll off the printing presses.
A $1-billion “capacity building” fund plus tribal ownership of freshwater, of all Crown owned river and lake beds, and the water column, are among proposals the Freshwater Iwi Leaders Group is taking around the country for tribal ratification.
The text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, a 12-country trade deal between New Zealand, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, the US, and Vietnam, was released last week.
TPP is big in its own right. But I suspect it will prove to be at least as significant for the powerful momentum shift it represents. The truth is that, since China (and Taiwan) joined the WTO way back in 2002, there have been no globally significant trade negotiating outcomes. There have been FTA’s. Plenty of them. But nothing really big.
Congratulations to the All Blacks for a wonderfully successful Rugby World Cup campaign – they did us proud! But now the Webb Ellis trophy is safely back home, it’s time to turn our attention to domestic affairs - in particular, the control of fresh water.
There is absolutely no legal, moral or common sense justification for any Maori claim to fresh water. The legal situation is that no-one owns water, and no-one ever has. This was the situation at common law, and the Water and Soil Conservation Act 1967 and now the Resource Management Act 1991 start off from the same assumption.
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