Ngāi Tahu are pushing for co-control and management of South Island rivers such as the the Clutha in the Lawrence area, Otago. Photo / Supplied
Ngāi Tahu are pushing for co-control and management of South Island rivers such as the the Clutha in the Lawrence area, Otago. Photo / Supplied
Hawke's Bay Regional Council chairman Rex Graham says Māori have every right and reason to push for more control of freshwater resources.
Ngāti Kahungunu on Wednesday came out in support of a Ngāi Tahu claim which is seeking co-control and management of freshwater in its rohe.
Graham said it makessense that Ngāti Kahungunu would back the push given how government institutions have failed at protecting rivers over the years.
"So you can't blame tangata whenua for saying 'give us a go, we reckon we can do a better job'," Graham said.
On October 27, Ngāi Tahu lodged a statement of claim in the High Court at Christchurch for the iwi to have shared authority with the Crown over policy and management of the waterways.
Ngāti Kahungunu pledged their support on Tuesday due to the degradation of the rivers and land over the last 50 years, with government regimes slow to respond.
Graham said he supported the idea of working together with iwi to create substantial change, something he said his council is already doing.
"Because there has to be a better way," he said, noting the possibility of Ngāti Kahungunu making a similar claim.
Hawke's Bay Regional Council chairman Rex Graham said government institutions have failed to protect rivers over the years. Photo / Warren Buckland
"We're a long way advanced on other places because we already have a partnership with the Treaty claimant groups around the [Resource Management Act].
"It's happening in a few regions now and I think there's a momentum to do it this way, because there's no way that a regional council can fix all these problems by ourselves."
Hawke's Bay Regional Council chief executive James Palmer said the council recognised the enormous importance of freshwater as a taonga for Māori, and its centrality to whakapapa.
"As such the management of freshwater is the principal focus of our work with tangata whenua though our Regional Planning Committee and Māori Committee of council.
"By law the council must give effect to 'Te Mana o Te Wai', which demands close collaboration with tangata whenua in developing the management response to protect and restore our freshwater."
Palmer said the council is currently "ramping up its capability to support this".
The regional council agrees with Ngati Kahungunu that many of the region's waterways are badly degraded, Palmer says.
"The council is doing everything within its existing resources and powers to address this degradation but achieving our shared goals will take an enormous effort by the whole community for several generations to come.
"The institutional arrangements for managing water are determined by Parliament and ultimately any further changes to these will need to be determined by the Crown and enacted by Parliament.
"While these matters are before the courts and the source of discussion between iwi and the Crown, the regional council is getting on with doing what it can in partnership with iwi, marae, hapu and settlement groups."
