Wairarapa Moana calls for stronger environmental protections in new resource management system

Two Bills, the Spatial Planning Bill and Natural and Built Environment Bill are currently before the Environment Select Committee. These Bills represent a major overhaul of the current system. The Government expects to pass these into law before the General Election later this year.

Anaru Smiler, Group General Manager, in a Wairarapa Moana 10-page written submission to the Environment Committee sets out our concerns with these reforms.

“Wairarapa Moana support the inclusion of the concept of Te Oranga o te Taiao in the Natural and Built Environment Bill, however, we are concerned that the way in which this has been drafted is not consistent with the Te Ao Màori view of te taiao – which is holistic and integrated. Te Taiao is not just about the natural environment as stated in the Bill,” said Anaru Smiler.

“We have also told the Environment Committee that Te Oranga o te Taiao should provide clear direction about environmental priorities or a hierarchy of obligations.”

Te Mana o te Wai, a bicultural framework provides a blueprint, that we consider could have been easily adopted in the new resource management system.

Te Mana o te Wai is based on the principles of Mana Whakahaere, Kaitiakitanga, Manaakitanga, Governance, Stewardship, Care and Respect.

In Te Mana o te Wai1 there is a clear hierarchy, with our first obligation being to the health and mauri of the water, before providing for human needs and wants. This is Aotearoa’s freshwater framework within which central government, local government, tangata whenua, and communities all need to work towards.

Wairarapa Moana have asked the Environment Committee to change the primary reference term in the Spatial Planning Bill and Natural and Built Environment Bill for Màori rights and responsibilities holders to “mana whakahaere”, based on the definition in the National Policy Statement Freshwater.

We are also disappointed that no meaningful progress has been made on the resolution of Màori rights and interests in freshwater. Wairarapa Moana have proposed specific drafting changes to the Natural and Built Environment Bill to better protect those rights and interests.

This is because the Bill proposes a system of environmental targets and limits. However, there is no requirement in the Bill for targets to be set at a state that is sustainable It gets worse, the Bill also provides for limits to be set at worse than current state if the current state will cause continuing degradation. This takes an approach that where the environment is really degraded, we should not pursue recovering it, or even maintaining it.

“We don’t think this aligns with our vision of Nurturing our Taonga, kaitiakitanga and our values of tika, whanaungatanga, rangatiratanga, wànanga and Kotahitanga. This is why we have written to the Environment Committee,” said Anne Carter.

“As kaitiaki of our whenua, like other farmers, growers, and communities we are all on a journey to improve our environmental management. This is something Wairarapa Moana take seriously. As kaitiaki we aim to leave our whenua, and taonga in a better state than we found them, for the next generation, and the generations after that,” said Anaru Smiler.

Whànau, if you are interested in this kaupapa, then more information can be found www.foma.org.nz

Anne Carter, Committee of Management said: “Wairarapa Moana have also told the Environment Committee that we are very concerned that the Natural and Built Environment Bill is a step backwards for Aotearoa in terms of environmental management.” A copy of Wairarapa Moana