Susan Short
Susan @DEMOCRACYACTION
141sc
  • Nov 05, 2019

< November 2019 newsletter


Action Plan for Healthy Waterways

Thank you to everyone who took the opportunity to make a submission on the Government’s 'Action for Healthy Waterways' discussion document. Around seventeen and a half thousand submissions were received, reflecting much interest in the proposals.

From a democracy point of view, it is of great concern that several proposals point to the undermining of the democratic control of water, and include the intention to require local authorities to compulsorily include a vague and undefined set of values and interests in the management of the water bodies and freshwater ecosystems in their region.

An independent advisory panel is now reviewing the submissions. The panel is expected to provide recommendations to Ministers early next year on content and specific wording of the regulations. The Ministry for the Environment and the Ministry for Primary Industries will also provide advice to Ministers on feedback on the proposals from meetings and submissions, as well as options Ministers may want to consider. According to the Ministry for the Environment, it is expected the final decisions on new freshwater regulations will be made in the first half of next year, with a view to having the regulations in force by mid-year, including amendments to the RMA.

No doubt iwi leaders will be pushing hard to reserve places for themselves at the decision-making tables, and they may succeed unless we mobilise our voices. Although the official deadline for providing feedback has now passed, you can still contact MPs to have your say. 

Contact details:

Policies released by NZ First in the lead up to the 2017 elections included the promise to remove all references to race from the RMA. Please remind NZ First MPs of this commitment. Their email addresses are:

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

 A list of all MPs is available by clicking HERE

All of the information on the proposals – including the discussion document, the draft and proposed regulations, consultation updates, and more – can still be found on the consultation web page: https://www.mfe.govt.nz/consultation/action-for-healthy-waterways

A summary is available here: https://www.mfe.govt.nz/sites/default/files/media/Fresh%20water/action-for-healthy-waterways-summary.pdf

Media release by Ministers Parker and O’Connor available by clicking HERE

 

 


Go back to the November 2019 newsletter

RELATED ARTICLES


New Land and Water Regional Plan for Otago Regional Council

Apr 06, 2022
Image source: https://www.orc.govt.nz/media/11399/hierarchy-of-plans.jpg The Otago Regional Council (ORC) is in the process of developing a new Land and Water Regional Plan (LWRP) - in partnership with Kāi Tahu iwi. Together, they are talking with catchment groups, industry groups and subject experts to help develop the region’s new Plan for freshwater. This plan will include rules and limits on water and land use. Continue reading

THE ROLE OF TE MANA O TE WAI IN WATER SERVICES ENTITIES

Dec 07, 2021
All Water Services Entities will be required to give effect to Te Mana o Te Wai. Three of its six principles will encompass all aspects of the water delivery system - specifically Mana whakahaere, Kaitiakitanga, and Manaakitanga. These principles are to be defined by tangata whenua. Continue reading

Three Waters reform to give iwi/Māori dominating influence

Sep 03, 2021
As the Government releases more information about its Three Waters reforms, it is becoming obvious that the proposed system is to be dominated by the rights and interests of iwi/Māori. The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) Three Waters paper ‘Opportunities for Iwi/Māori in the Three Waters Reform’ sets out how this will be achieved.  Continue reading

Three Waters Reform – further constitutional change by stealth

Jul 08, 2021
In another step in what the Government terms ‘partnership-based reform’ Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta last week released further information on plans to move the ownership and management of water infrastructure from local councils into the hands of four multi-regional water service entities across New Zealand. This information includes the proposed boundaries of the four water providers, and further details on the proposed water services entities - including governance arrangements, how they would be regulated, and the role of iwi. Nanaia Mahuta stated: “The Government will continue to work with the sector, iwi and industry on some of the details to give these transformational reforms the best chance of success. We will be making further announcements in the coming weeks, including a three waters reform support package for councils and their communities’’. Continue reading

Update on the Three Waters Reform Programme

Feb 05, 2021
Early last year many of us made submissions on the Water Services Regulator Bill. Following the public consultation process the Government passed the Taumata Arowai – Water Services Regulator Act in July 2020. The reform programme is now being progressed through a voluntary, partnership-based approach with the local government sector, alongside iwi/Māori as the Crown’s Treaty Partner.  Continue reading

Partnership trumps good governance - the Taupō water monitoring deal

Jun 15, 2020
The Waikato Regional Council is planning to outsource the monitoring of the waters in and around Lake Taupo and its tributaries to the Tūwharetoa Maori Trust Board. This is despite the Council having identified the risk that it may be expected to undertake similar agreements with other iwi authorities or local authorities that may result in not being able to deliver on expectations due to competing priorities.   Continue reading

Influential role for Maori at new Water Services Regulator

Feb 21, 2020
Taumata Arowai—the Water Services Regulator Bill, open for public submissions until 4th March, seeks to create a new water regulator - to be called Taumata Arowai. The Bill includes provision for a Maori advisory group to work alongside this new Crown entity. The Maori Advisory Group is another manifestation of the government’s commitment to support agencies to form true partnerships with Māori "by actively facilitating new prototype partnerships between the Crown and Māori", as outlined in a cabinet paper released in July 2019, 'Building Closer Partnerships with Māori'. Continue reading

Have your say on looking after our water

Oct 04, 2019
The Ministry for the Environment is proposing a raft of legislative and regulatory changes to clean up lakes and rivers within “a generation”.  Continue reading

WAITANGI TRIBUNAL RELEASES REPORT ON FRESHWATER AND GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES

Sep 04, 2019
Last week the Waitangi Tribunal released its report on stage 2* of the National Freshwater and Geothermal Resources inquiry. The report recommends two specific amendments to the Resource Management Act 1991 and a number of paths and mechanisms for co-governance and co-management. Continue reading

Iwi seeking governance of the Marine & Coastal Area, and authority over water

Apr 08, 2019
On March 26 Maori claimants from around the country gathered to make submissions to the Waitangi Tribunal for the rights to their coastal water areas, saying that since the foreshore and seabed march in 2004, progress has been slow in recognising iwi governance of their marine and coastal areas. Continue reading

Maori Council demands the control of water

Dec 03, 2018
The Waitangi Tribunal has recently been hearing the final part of stage of two of its inquiry into a variety of claims relating to New Zealand’s fresh water resources. (A list of the matters the Tribunal is focusing on is available on the Waitangi Tribunal website, see HERE.) Continue reading

Government's Freshwater Policy

Nov 06, 2018
The government released its water policy last month, see HERE. It avoids dealing with the question of ownership, instead focusing first on cleaning up rivers, and then looking into the more difficult issue of water allocation. Continue reading

Update on Resource Management replacement legislation

Aug 10, 2023
Both the Natural & Built Environment and the Spatial Planning Bills are set to become law in the coming weeks. As we pointed out in previous articles, Labour’s new resource management regime is far worse than the current system. Worse in that it will diminish local voices, reduce democratic accountability, increase uncertainty, and embed inequitable rights based on race.  Continue reading

Full steam ahead on RMA replacement legislation

Jul 07, 2023
After reviewing more than 3,000 submissions, the Environment Select Committee has reported back to Parliament (27 June) on the Natural and Built Environment and Spatial Planning Bills.   Despite the hundreds of amendments to the bills, the report does nothing to alleviate our concerns. The proposed legislation continues to enshrine inequitable rights based on race; reduces democratic accountability; diminishes local voices; and increases uncertainty.  You can read our original article that lays out our concerns here. Continue reading

Report on the Constitutional Kōrero 2022 conference

Dec 14, 2022
A conference to discuss the progress of formal constitutional recognition of indigenous peoples in their respective countries was held at the University of Auckland on 21-23 November. The Constitutional Kōrero 2022: Transforming New Zealand’s Constitution conference brought together indigenous lawyers and academics from New Zealand, the Pacific, North America, Australia, Asia, Latin America, Greenland, Scandinavia and Africa. Continue reading

Resource management law replacement a can of worms!

Dec 14, 2022
The first two of three new Acts to replace the Resource Management Act 1991 – the Spatial Planning Bill and the Natural and Built Environment Bill – passed their first reading in November and are open for submissions until the 5th February 2023. Continue reading

Pharmac to change drug funding priorities

Jun 07, 2022
The Government’s key driver for its current health sector reforms is to secure better and “more equitable outcomes for all New Zealanders, but in particular for Māori, Pasifika, disabled people, and other priority populations.”  An emphasis on equity of outcome forms much of the focus of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Bill, which will come into effect on 1 July 2022. We have previously covered the new legislation in PAE ORA - THE RADICAL CHANGE TO OUR HEALTH SYSTEM Continue reading

The 'decolonisation' of civics and citizenship education

May 06, 2022
“The definition of ‘civics’ must also be broader than simply liberal democratic notions premised on the idea of indivisible sovereignty. The definition must look beyond the existing constitutional arrangements and carefully incorporate Indigenous constitutionalisms and aspirations”  - NZPSA Civics Citizenship and Political Literacy in Aotearoa New Zealand: A Public Discussion Paper Continue reading

Loss of local control but greater role for iwi/hapū in resource management

Aug 02, 2021
Your chance to have a say on the preliminary draft of the Natural and Built Environments Act - one of three to replace the RMA - is running out fast. This opportunity closes in 2 days’ time - at 11:59 pm on Wednesday 4th August. There is not much in the preliminary draft of the Government’s proposed resource management reforms that will meet the stated aim of reducing the cost and time taken to consent projects or simplify the rules for building houses. On the contrary, rather than simplify some of the proposals will add to the complications.  Continue reading

Preferential treatment for iwi under proposed Fast Track Consenting Bill

Jun 15, 2020
We are asking for your help to fight against legislation currently being drafted by the Government which clearly discriminates in favour of iwi, while the rest of us would effectively be marginalized. The issue is urgent - the Government plans to push this legislation through by late June - under urgency and with minimal public input under the pretext of COVID-19. Continue reading

Plans to widen the scope of CVAs

Nov 05, 2019
It has been quite some time since we covered the issue of Cultural Values Assessments (CVA). This does not mean they are no longer an issue. To the contrary – the taniwha has been quietly working in the background, sharpening its teeth – as evidenced by reports on a project undertaken to research the effectiveness of the CVA process for influencing resource management and consenting in Auckland, and recommending ways to increase iwi/hapu involvement in the resource consent process. Continue reading

Resource Management Act to be reviewed – again!

Aug 03, 2019
Environment Minister David Parker has launched an "overhaul" of the Resource Management Act (RMA), seeking to cut complexity and costs and better protect the environment.  Continue reading

Powered by people like you

Steve Ashley Tui Bellavi Allan Boucher Kerry Campbell Kenneth Brinn Lee Short John Boscawen Darcy Ungaro Roy McKone Karen Bridgman

Sign in with Facebook, Twitter or email.

Created with NationBuilder