BEST PRACTICE GUIDELINES FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH MĀORI
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3.5 Legislation 1. The Government’s key policy objective for petroleum and minerals is set out in Section 1A of the Crowns Minerals Act 1991 which states: a. The purpose of this Act is to promote prospecting for, exploration for, and mining of Crown owned minerals for the benefit of New Zealand. 2. To this end, this Act provides for: a. the efficient allocation of rights to prospect for, explore for, and mine Crown owned minerals; and b. the effective management and regulation of the exercise of those rights; and c. the carrying out, in accordance with good industry practice, of activities in respect of those rights; and d. a fair financial return to the Crown for its minerals. 3. The increasing demand for natural resources around the world is driving prospecting, exploration and production activities in New Zealand which is likely to continue for the long term.
4. Oil, gas and minerals operations can often affect Māori ties to their traditional land and resources and impact upon the cultural integrity of Māori. For the purposes of this document the term iwi is used although engagement will not necessarily occur with iwi in all circumstances. As outlined in Diagram 2, New Zealand follows a specific permitting regime for the purposes of achieving the Government’s Key Policy Objective for petroleum and minerals. 5. It is acknowledged that the regulatory and policy framework for dealing with iwi engagement is neither certain nor comprehensive. The result of this uncertainty is often confusing amongst organisations, iwi and decision makers. 6. Given this environment all parties acknowledge the need to establish a set of voluntary principles that will be known as ‘Guidelines.’ 7. Both iwi and best practising companies have contributed significantly to the development of these Guidelines. 8. Key sources used in the preparation of this document have included national and local government reports, interviews with experts in the field and unpublished case studies of agreements between iwi and oil and minerals companies, including interviews.