Powerful South Island iwi Ngāi Tahu is taking the Government to court over water, saying the Crown failed to recognise its rangatiratanga over the resource.
A cast of tribal members and their rūnanga suing the Government says it's a Treaty of Waitangi right and guaranteed under its 1997 settlement.
“The statement of claim is a response to the real destruction of our waterways our water bodies particularly in the South Island and I do mean destruction,” Ngāi Tahu claimant Te Maire Tau said.
“The settlement act resolved issues of the past, but it also confirmed our rangatiratanga in the South Island and we have a clear view that gives us regulatory fiscal authority over water.”
Poor resource management, the pressure on waterways and over-allocation are issues behind the High Court action.
The now bone-dry bed of the Selwyn River/Waikirikiri is one of the waterways, which was historically, an important eel gathering place for Ngāi Tahu. The loss of that waterway is driving the claim.
“That wai came from our river and it did feed us our essence, our spiritual essence and that's now gone, Ngāi Tahu iwi member Liz Kereru said.
Environment Minister David Parker kept his portfolio, but didn’t front today.
In August, he announced new freshwater rules requiring councils to protect the health and wellbeing of rivers. In principle, the new rules also recognised the authority of tangata whenua. That authority has been not recognised, say Ngāi Tahu.
“We're seeking a declaratory judgement on our view is we clearly have rangatiratanga which was assured in the Settlement Act we signed in 1998, the Crown has promised confirmation or rangatiratanga and it would co-operate now clearly there has been no co-operation over water,” Tau said.
"It's largely been one-way part of the Crown's attempt to assimiliate our tribe into its kaupapa".
An associate professor of law says the issue is that "Māori aren't just another stakeholder".
“What the issue is here is that Māori in relation to rights and interests in fresh water aren't just another stakeholder but are part of the authority that ought to be making decisions, or they ought to be part of co-design, part of co-determination in terms of what those decisions are,” Carwyn Jones of Victoria University says.
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