KEY POINTS:
The Maori Party is questioning the Government's ownership of water in the country's lakes and streams, saying in some cases Maori may retain customary rights.
The Government is consulting over water use through its Sustainable Water Programme of Action.
As part of the consultation it is using the slogan - "four million careful users".
Maori Party MP Te Ururoa Flavell yesterday said that amounted to "misinforming the public".
"The very clear advice from the Maori reference groups and Te Puni Kokiri is that Maori customary rights to water still exist or are, at the very least, contestable in court," he told Parliament.
In October last year, the Weekend Herald reported thatleaders of Tainui, Ngai Tahu, Tuwharetoa and Whanganui met to develop a strategy to combat the exclusion of Maori from control of the country's fresh water.
The hui was called and hosted in Taupo by influential Tuwharetoa paramount chief Tumu te Heuheu, a key adviser and mentor of new Maori King Tuheitia.
A tribal source said the Waitangi Tribunal or a court challenge were among the options being considered and a working party of legal representatives was understood to have been formed to research a strategy.
Associate Environment Minister Nanaia Mahuta today said the Government had been clear it believed fresh water was a public resource.
"I can state categorically that the Government's position is that water is a public resource that the Government and local authorities will continue to manage on behalf of all New Zealanders."
In response to a question from Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia she said there was no intention to privatise water.
The Maori Party claims have echoes of the foreshore and seabed controversy, which sparked its formation.
That was spurred by an Appeal Court decision that if Maori could prove continuous customary use of parts of the seabed and foreshore in some cases that might amount to freehold ownership.
In response the Government legislated to put the foreshore and seabed clearly in the public domain.
Maori groups said it was a confiscation of a potential property right.
However, no such court case has been taken in relation to water and even if such a case was successful it is not clear if the scope would be as far reaching as in the foreshore and seabed case due to the fact no one holds private freehold ownership over water.
United Future leader Peter Dunne today said Maori claims of customary rights over fresh water went beyond what was acceptable to most New Zealanders.
"The Maori Party appears to be asserting Maori rights to all New Zealand's natural resources, the things we have in common," he said.
"The fresh water claim simply raises the question 'who owns the rain?' and show the absurdity of the position being adopted," he said.
"Natural resources like air and water belong to all New Zealanders and it is the Crown's responsibility to exercise that ownership equally and fairly on our behalf," he said.
- NZPA
