If you haven't followed this, Chris Bishop is planning to replace the Resource Management Act shortly and his replacement law will not allow councils to sign any more of these agreements.
These agreements are called Mana Whakahono a Rohe agreements. In some cases, and certainly in the more extreme examples, they effectively cede significant decision-making power to iwi.
The new law will not allow any further agreements to be signed but it will allow existing agreements to continue. So, of course, what's happening is that councils are rushing to sign as many of these things as they can before the law changes.
The Far North District Council is trying to sign five of them, apparently without involving elected councillors in the process. They're reportedly not even allowed to see the detail.
I've had a letter today from the Mayor of Carterton drawing my attention to the fact that Greater Wellington Regional Council, which covers Carterton, is doing exactly the same thing, despite objections from two of its constituent councils: Carterton and Kāpiti.
Environment Canterbury tried to rush one through this week, then got busted and pulled it from the agenda.
The fact that councils are being cynical like this will come as no surprise to anyone because they did exactly the same thing with Māori wards when they knew that, in many cases, their own ratepayers did not support them.
But this gets much more difficult for the Government because it, particularly the National Party and ACT, said this co-governance stuff would end. Yet they are allowing it to continue under their new RMA laws by permitting these agreements to carry over.
They need to change that law. They need to change it before it becomes law if they really meant what they said.
Importantly, if they want to retain the faith of the voters who backed them to end this stuff, then they need to act when they have the chance next week, when the select committee report on the RMA reforms comes back. They need to say that these agreements will be rendered void under the new law and that whatever has been signed in a last-minute rush will count for nothing.
This is the Government's big test. It's the chance to prove that what it said about co-governance wasn't just hot air.
Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and radio broadcaster who hosts Newstalk ZB's weekday Drive-Time Show – where this article was sourced.
21 comments:
I agree. I want a democratic country. With as little fraud, corruption and back hand deals as possible. Why should I vote national this election? They haven't done what they said they would do!!!
They need to do nothing of the sort. We need custodians of the land and sea or it will all be lost to Shane Jones’s mates in mining and fishing. Does the mining industry have NZ’s interests at heart? What a joke.
Yes.
Trouble is the whole way they are attacking Local Government is going to make things worse.
First, you have to understand the problem, which they don't.
I fear for the future with National undertaking RMA changes that will most likely miss the parts that are causing problems.
Watts and Bishop like most National MP's don't understand Local Government.
Yes this is a litmus test that National will fail at its peril. It went into the last election 'intimating' that it would deal with the co-governance issue but with fingers firmly crossed behind its back. If they do not step up and correct this by obviating these insidious agreements it should very deservedly cost them dear. However, I suspect they are banking on an electorate sleepwalking into this coming election.
Economy? Energy security? Food security and affordability?Unemployment? Wealth disparity? We care not for these things. HDPA is on the money.
Hear hear.
100% Heather!!!. It certainly makes my blood boil. But it is not only local govt that is giving in the maori mafia, it is also central govt and they need to WAKE up . We have had enough!!!!. All the money that is paid out is only improving the lives of the elite few. Its corrupt and just has to stop.
Hear, Hear Heather !!
The takeover is well under way.
As I have said before, It is way overdue to end ALL official or legal recognition of race or ethnicity in ALL legislation in New Zealand.
With race/ethnicity no longer having legal status, there would be:-
NO more race-based seats
NO race-specific party in Parliament.
NO more race-based wards in local government.
NO more census questions about ethnicity.
NO more co-governance.
NO “Treaty principles” in legislation
NO more so called “Treaty” claims of unending victimhood.
NO separate Health Authority.
NO Waitangi Tribunal !
NO racial apartheid !
We would all be EQUAL in New Zealand. !!
History tells us that NO NATION OR SOCIETY CAN SURVIVE WHILE RACIST ACTIVISTS PROMOTE DIVISION AND ENTITLEMENT ON THE BASIS OF RACE, (i.e. APARTHEID
I don't understand Nationals motive - why are they doing this to the vast majority of the population against their wishes?
I greatly suspect it's Luxon's personal agenda ?
He lied to us before the last agenda about this , and has strenuously avoided any questions since he became PM.
Definitely not to be trusted again.
Watts and Bishop need to put the changes through this afternoon under Urgency.
Anon 9:58 Absolutely correct . Scream it to the roof tops for as long as it takes for National to understand
adding up all those who bothered to vote at the last local election a majority supported race-based wards. There is a huge chunk out there who don't know, don't care. Hence no protests and hardline radicals win because they are motivated. Applies to general elections as well.
I’m more concerned about the $300 million of taxpayer money that has been spent on roads of national significance, where the road won’t get built. It’s outrageous.
Oh yeah, but co-governance is bad?
I suspect Luxon panders to maori because he and family desire to stay in NZ. Jacinda has fled, yet she has only a few anti vaccers and political extremists to fear. Anyone not pandering to maori has to contend with a myriad irrational haka imbued traditonally very violent maori nutters, many frequently attending encouragement and brainwash sessions at Insurgency Coordination Centres (marae) and via a myriad other gatherings
"We need custodians of the land and sea or it will all be lost to Shane Jones’s mates in mining and fishing. Does the mining industry have NZ’s interests at heart?"
Oh good grief: surely you don't actually believe that? This is supposed to be a democracy: in virtue of what would you suppose that democratically elected citizens cannot be trusted to safeguard our interests? We the citizens want a representative democracy. There's no place in NZ for ethnically-based governance of anything,
Wake up: NZ needs to do its share with regard to resource extraction. This economy cannot grow unless it utilises its resources. Note that the late Sam Neill was vocal in his opposition to the Santana gold mine, yet when diagnosed with a rare form of lymphoma, he got treatment in Sydney, where such treatment is available. Australia is a wealthy country, courtesy of its utilisation of its resources via mining. That treatment regime isn't available here, except in the form of a clinical trial. Which, of course, means that it isn't available to all.
I'm guessing that people here want smart phones, computers, and electric cars, along with other technological gewgaws. Good luck having access to any of that, unless somebody somewhere is mining the requisite rare earths and so on. Why should this not happen in NZ? We aren't special, you know.
Desterre yes I want that. I also don’t want private mining companies to strip NZ of our mineral wealth.
Anon 3.50
Can you identify the vast areas of industrial desolation from historical mineral extraction ?
Then look for the recently restored industrial sites and tell me how evil they are ?
Bring on the Bendigo mining, and the fully restored landscape when the gold runs out.
Anon 3:50pm - Perhaps you haven’t heard of “win-win”. Two more words for you: “royalties” and “jobs”. Mining doesn’t automatically equate to disaster. Environmental mitigation and protections can be included. Ee need to explore opportunity and dwell in possibility. This nation desperately needs to earn its keep.
Anon at 3:50pm: Santana will provide environmental mitigation (it's all promises at this stage) but that only goes so far. The big problem is the huge pond containing toxic waste that the miners will leave behind. That toxic waste will be there for eternity, posing a huge risk to Central Otago should an earthquake come.
Shane jones doesn’t do win win and the contracts done benefit NZ we end up with little to no economic benefit. Does no one on this thread read history?
Read Luxon’s speeches. Full to the brim with snivelling and grovelling to you know who. Promising devolution and decentralisation to you know where. Last week he was quoted as saying he liked to get in and out of Wellington as quickly as possible. Memo: NZME and Stuff both quoted those words.
To me it means he does not want to do the hard yards at the sharp end of politics. It is not so much of being physically present in Wellington that bothers him but that he might come under real pressure and scrutiny from the media and even from his own party.
I don’t have an instant solution for the Local Govt/Maori issue. But the damn will have to break soon.
Voting - I would not trust Labour on any front, anywhere at any time. And, I’m not sure of New Zealand First. Blood is thicker than water and they now have a number of Maori language enthusiasts in the party.
Note for Doug Longmire. You are on target all the way except for the point about the census. There will not be a full census in the foreseeable future. The census if it may be regarded as such, is to be maintained, ongoing, with reference to data held by central and local government.
Snivelling and grovelling to big business. It is abhorrent. We need a government for the people, Anon 958.
Post a Comment
Thank you for joining the discussion. Breaking Views welcomes respectful contributions that enrich the debate. Please ensure your comments are not defamatory, derogatory or disruptive. We appreciate your cooperation.