The Māori economy did not figure much on the hustings. The iwi owners, however, know that, without greater exports and a simplified regulatory system, the future is bleak. The fishing industry is entangled with nonsensical attacks over bottom trawling. Iwi carbon forestry faces threats of nationalisation.
Māori employees in the energy sector are also watching their colleagues disappear over the Tasman. Hopefully, the new Government will realise that this sector is New Zealand’s most productive contributor to GDP.
Fossil fuel production has reached peak stigmatisation but there is no proper plan for how our carbon retreat can be funded and delivered. This is important, given the large amount of Māori wealth stored in the primary sector.
Such perspectives have been swamped by scaremongering and anti-economic growth narratives. Examples abound, including the national policy statement for indigenous biodiversity introduced under the Resource Management Act.
Such statutory ornaments are “nice to haves” for most Māori. Of more importance are jobs, income and security. Given our economic challenges, casting off such millstones is sorely needed.
A reset would certainly help the forestry industry. A good start would be terminating the freshly-minted Emissions Trading Scheme carbon forestry charges of $35 per hectare. Māori owners are being commercially excoriated.
High Court litigation has been filed to challenge these egregious charges. Costs keep mounting but the Crown does no cost-benefit analysis. This is symbolic of a deeper problem in climate change policy-making, where people protect our environment by hollowing out the economy.
There is an unmandated Wellington climate agenda to move from “net emissions to gross emissions”. Officials believe they are under direction to drive for faster and more profound changes. Such an agenda is blind to the cost-of-living consequences. Hopefully, Māori will be saved by the pause button.
There are large streams of bureaucratic work underway that favour mitigation rather than adaptation. This uncosted folly must be revisited. The Climate Commission’s prejudice against using forestry to reduce the expenses of zero carbon must go the way of the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill: carbonised.
Unfortunately, the past three years have been harrowing for Māori forestry. Akin to playing a match of rugby where the rules change during the game. There has been no appeal process to curb the delinquency of the referee.
The reckless ETS review has shrunk forestry investment, messed with the carbon price and devalued the importance of forestry abatement.
Any Government foolish enough to implement the results of this review will annihilate 4500 jobs for Māori over the next 10-15 years. It will also torpedo the $15 billion project to plant marginal tribal land.
Our production forestry resource is predominantly owned by foreigners although iwi possess much of the underlying whenua. These overseas investors have enjoyed excellent returns by shifting much of the costs of slash onto local communities – an outstanding issue that threatens social licence.
Māori do not know if additional forestry will be encouraged or permitted by the new Government. The National MP for Wairarapa, Mike Butterick, has in my view shown a negative stance towards such investment. Act MP Andrew Hoggard, I believe, has also been dismissive of forestry expansion.
A new set of regulations for the forestry sector were passed before the election. They are known as the national environmental standards for commercial forestry. They will equip local government representatives with tools to curb farmland conversion to forestry.
Each of these interventions unavoidably erodes property rights and rangatiratanga over the Māori land estate.
However, such is the nature of the democratic process. Gone are the days when the Ngāpuhui chief Hongi Hika uttered the word and that was the law.
Matua Chris Luxon as the new Pākehā chief will learn this lesson as well.
Chemistry requires a very sound knowledge of the elements. Politics is not a chemical soup.
Ketamine or Kenny Rogers? The former can make you come across as chill, relaxed and happy.
The latter offers far more useful advice to our corporate Prime Minister-in-waiting.
As Kenny croons: “You never count your money when you’re sittin’ at the table. There’ll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin’s done.”
Penetaui Kleskovic is operations manager at Te Aupōuri Commercial Development.
