Mark Hooper, speaking on behalf of the organisation in its weekly email newsletter, said the rules place the health of water ahead of people, requiring councils to regulate not only measurable aspects such as clarity, fish life, and E. coli levels, but also spiritual concepts like the “mauri” or “life force” of water.
“Most reasonable New Zealanders know these are not things that can be scientifically tested, monitored or reviewed,” Hooper said. “All these rules will do is lead to confusion, inconsistency, costly legal battles, and endless consenting headaches.”
He argued the approach risks handing mana whenua a monopoly over freshwater decisions, citing examples where groups opposed mixing water bodies or discharges of treated wastewater on spiritual grounds, despite the water being scientifically clean.
First introduced under National in 2017 and expanded under Labour in 2020, the rules have long been criticised by farmers. Hooper said the current Government must now “do the right thing, not the easy thing” and remove Te Mana o te Wai altogether if it is serious about fixing freshwater regulation.
Farmers, he stressed, have already invested heavily in voluntary environmental improvements and want rules based on credible science, not undefined spiritual concepts. “The concept of Te Mana o te Wai simply must go. It should have no place in New Zealand’s freshwater laws.”
Daily Telegraph New Zealand (DTNZ) is an independent news website, first published in October 2021. - where this article was sourced.
He argued the approach risks handing mana whenua a monopoly over freshwater decisions, citing examples where groups opposed mixing water bodies or discharges of treated wastewater on spiritual grounds, despite the water being scientifically clean.
First introduced under National in 2017 and expanded under Labour in 2020, the rules have long been criticised by farmers. Hooper said the current Government must now “do the right thing, not the easy thing” and remove Te Mana o te Wai altogether if it is serious about fixing freshwater regulation.
Farmers, he stressed, have already invested heavily in voluntary environmental improvements and want rules based on credible science, not undefined spiritual concepts. “The concept of Te Mana o te Wai simply must go. It should have no place in New Zealand’s freshwater laws.”
Daily Telegraph New Zealand (DTNZ) is an independent news website, first published in October 2021. - where this article was sourced.
1 comment:
This is a critical issue. No group of citizens should ever have power of veto over a natural resource as critical as water. Go Fed Farmers - with you all the way. The govt claims they fixed three waters - no way. Like most things the govt claims to have fixed, it’s a half pie job. Te mana o te wai is the mainstay of Nanaia’s original intent for maori to control water and it’s been retained by this govt. Why, Mr Luxon, would you do that?
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