Water is being targeted by corporate iwi as the next public resource to control. They say it is their right under the Treaty of Waitangi. But it is just another money grab and our political leaders are allowing them to get away with it.

As Ngapuhi leader David Rankin says, “Prior to the arrival of Europeans in New Zealand, Maori never owned water. There is no cultural basis or historical precedent for the claim.  Neither is it a Treaty right. This is just a case of opportunism, and on the basis of the foreshore and seabed issue, Maori have learned that if we keep pushing for the right to something, eventually, a weak Government will give in and hand it over to us.”

If you believe that water is a public good resource that must not be “owned” by anyone, then please sign our petition and call on others to sign as well. We need to send the government a strong message that claims for race-based rights akin to ownership must be rejected.