For the acerbic Finlayson it's no laughing matter. In all seriousness, he said it gives the river the ability to represent itself, and clearly not as a babbling brook. Human representatives, he says, will argue on its behalf.
Finlayson does acknowledge that "the initial inclination of some people will say it's pretty strange to give a natural resource a legal personality". He could say that again, and he did on several occasions, which still left many of us scratching our heads. He says it's really no different to family trusts, companies, or incorporated societies.
One of those who seemed to be flummoxed by the river becoming a person was Acting Prime Minister Paula Bennett, who herself has Maori blood coursing through her tributaries. It was as though her bubble had finally burst, though, when she was asked about the river's new status.
Prime Ministers are meant to know everything. John Key always did, answering everything that was thrown at him, and Bill English is making a fair fist of it as well. But a river being a person was a strange proposition for Bennett, who followed the lead of her predecessors, though, and babbled away about our connection to the waterways before finally admitting defeat -- she didn't quite understand what a river being a person meant.
In fairness to Bennett, Key, during the Dirty Politics saga, always seemed confused on whether he was a person rather than an office, so there is a precedent.
� Barry Soper is political editor for Newstalk ZB
