Geoff Parker: Who Should Govern New Zealand's Freshwater – Parliament or the Courts?

Open Letter To:

The Rt Hon Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister - Christopher.Luxon@parliament.govt.nz
The Hon Nicola Willis - Nicola.Willis@parliament.govt.nz
The Rt Hon David Seymour - Deputy Prime Minister - David.Seymour@parliament.govt.nz
The Hon Nicole McKee - Nicole.McKee@parliament.govt.nz
The Hon Paul Goldsmith - paul.goldsmith@parliament.govt.nz
The Hon Winston Peters - Winston.Peters@parliament.govt.nz
The Hon Shane Jones - Shane.Jones@parliament.govt.nz

Dear Prime Minister and Ministers,

New Zealand is awaiting what has been described as one of the most constitutionally significant court decisions in recent history.

The High Court's pending judgment in Tau v Attorney-General concerns Ngāi Tahu's claim that its rangatiratanga over freshwater was never extinguished and should be recognised through a new regime for the regulation, governance and allocation of freshwater resources.

Geoff Parker: The Crown, The Treaty, The Promises And The Waitangi Tribunal

At the centennial of the Treaty of Waitangi 1940 Sir Apirana Ngata said: “Let me acknowledge first that, in the whole world I doubt whether any native race has been so well treated by a European people as the Maori”

Occasionally, it is alleged that the Government failed to uphold ‘Treaty promises’ in the nineteenth century. Here is my response to that allegation…