North Canterbury News: May 05, 2022

OPINION
6 North Canterbury News, May 5, 2022
Co-governance and Ngai Tahu —Sir Kerry
Sir Kerry Burke, former Speaker, Cabinet Minister and chair of
Environment Canterbury, discusses ‘‘Democracy or Division? Some
History and aPossible Solution’’.
Iamopposedtothe Billproposingtogive
Ngai Tahu the powertoappoint two
councillors to the Canterbury Regional
Council.
Iamopposedtothe notion that our
countryand its population shouldbe
seen in binary terms. We are not. We are
amulti­racial and multi­cultural society
and our governancearrangements
should reflect that.
As Dame Anne Salmondeloquently
outlined in arecentarticle,the
Preamble to the Treaty of Waitangi
makes it clear that it creates amultilateralagreement,
not abi­lateral one.
She also suggeststhat the 1987 High
Court ruling that the Treaty was a
partnershipbetween the Crown and
Maori alone needsfurther
consideration.
Dame Annenoted that, as timepasses,
‘‘non­indigenous incomers may even
have whanaunamed after them –the
Manuels, the Stirlings, the Jacksonsand
the O’Regans etc.’’
We in Canterbury might add the
Grennells, Christians,Solomons and
Tregurthans(Tirikatenes).
In spite of the above,weseem to be
stumbling by ad hoc stepslike the Ngai
Tahu Bill and Three Waters intoafuture
of co­governance,abi­lateralsystem
inconsistent with the multi­lateral
nature of the Treaty and our society.
This will require us to give up the
democraticfoundation of our
governance arrangements.
Ihave witnessed massive change and
growth in Maori involvement and
progress in recent decades, someof
which Ihave beenapart of and helped
create.
In 1985, following amulti­sector
employment summit,whichIchaired as
Minister of Employment,Iadvised
Cabinetthat we were witnessing aMaori
Renaissance, awidespread movement
that has continued to this day. We are
better for this movement, provided it is
seen in amulti­cultural context.
As aRangiora High School teacher a
decade and ahalf earlier, Ifound the
requirement to record Maori students as
being more or lessthan half­Maori,
difficult in the extreme.
Later, as an MP in the Kirk
Government, Ivoted to changethat law.
Now, anyone with aMaori ancestorcan
claim to be Maori and, at census time,
choose to be on the Maori or General
electoral roll. Again, we are better for
this change.
As Speaker of Parliament in the late
1980’s,Iruled that Maori was an official
language of Parliament, adecision which
McALPINES MITRE 10 MEGA RANGIORA -OCEAN WATCH
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overturnedall previousSpeakers
Rulings which required Maori MPs to
either provide writtenEnglish
translations, or take halfoftheir
speaking time to telltheir colleaguesin
English whatthey had justsaid in Maori.
Today it is quite common to hear non­
Maori MPs usingMaorilanguage
expressions in Parliament, which also
has an interpretation service so that all
MPs understand what is being said.
These and other developments over
nearly 50 years have made New Zealand
abettercountry, and us abetterpeople.
There is, however, much thatIfind
troubling about Rino Tirikatene’s
Private Member’s Bill proposingthat
NgaiTahu can appoint two unelected
representatives to the Canterbury
Regional Council(aka Environment
Canterbury/ECan).
First, local authorities should be
democraticallyelected.
Thismeans that councillorsmaking
planning and resource management
policiesand decisions are directly
answerable to their communities.
It is called democracy.Itishow we do
things in this country. The Tirikatene
Billchanges this fundamentally.
The appointedcouncillors, under this
Bill, willbespending publicmoney, but
willbeanswerable onlytothose who
appoint them,ineffect to the inner,
private political dynamicsofNgai Tahu.
Thisproposalreverses the longstanding
political principle of ‘no
taxation without representation’, and
creates anew principle,one that
provides for the appointees of amajor
stakeholder to tax the public without
representingthem.
Thisproposalisanabandonment of
responsible government,whereby
central and local government decision
makers are answerabletotheir electors.
Second, if the currentelected ECan
Council thinks this Bill has merit,it
should be the body promotingitasa
Local Bill.
Its supportive comments, seemingly
becauseitbelieves there will be fewer
costs having Ngai Tahu at the decisionmaking
table rather than in aformal
advisory role, overlook the slightlylarger
matters of principle thancost at stake
here, things liketransparency and
democracy.
Third, Rino Tirikatene, the Member of
Parliament promotingthis Bill, also
represents all Maori (notjust Ngai Tahu)
in Otago, Southland, the West Coast, and
other Iwi in Nelson, Marlborough and
Tasman. If it is good for Canterbury to
havethis change, why is it not being
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Sir Kerry Burke
proposed for the rest of the South Island?
Fourth, if amajor constitutional
changesuch as thisreally does have
genuine value, it shouldapply to all local
authorities and to all Iwi, not just
Canterbury and Ngai Tahu.
In that case,itshould be aGovernment
Bill.
Much of the criticism of the Three
Watersproposal revolves around its cogovernancemodel.
The Government
shouldbewary of taking thatstep but, if
it supports the NgaiTahu Bill, why not
do the same for all Iwi in all regions?
Fifth,Ngai Tahu is amajor resource
consent holderinCanterbury. Iwi
appointeeswould havemany conflicts of
interest,not least for urban zoning and
irrigation consents.
Sixth,when ECan was conducting its
representationreview prior to the 2007
local elections, my deputychair, Robert
Johnston,and Imet separately with Mark
Solomon, then NgaiTahu
Kaiwhakahaere. We asked him whether
he would supportadesignated Maori
constituency.
He toldusthat they did not want a
separate constituencyasthey thought
the MaoriAdvisory Committee was
working well, so why change it. We
proposed no change.
Perhaps the genesis of thisBill is to do
with some recenthistory.
In the 2007 local elections,awave of
publicconcern over the potential for
irrigation from the Central Plains Water
schemetopollutedomesticwater
supplies saw four Green­aligned
candidatessweep incumbentsout of
office.
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Potential irrigators feared tighter
rules and conditionsfor the use of water,
afear that was conveyed to ruralmayors,
who saw water as drivingeconomic
growth in their districts. When the Key
Government was elected in 2008, it and
the mayors(led by Christchurch’s
Parker)succeededindestroying the
electedECan council and having
commissioners appointed.
Labour and the Greens,inOpposition,
opposedthis action.They wereright to
do so.
Ngai Tahu, however, supported the
National government’s actions, as did
the Maori Party.Ngai Tahu thenhad a
Commissioner appointedtoECan,
something it now seeks to consolidate
with this departure from the democratic
foundation of local government.
APossible Solution
Away needs to be foundtoenable Ngai
Tahu to exercise its manawhenua role
with regard to natural resources,while
maintaining the democraticbase of local
government and the multi­lateral nature
of the Treaty of Waitangi.
The Tirikatene Billdoes not do this. It
is, metaphorically, the tail proposing to
wag the dog.
If the advisory rolethat NgaiTahu
found satisfactory in 2007 is no longer
wanted, another way of engagement must
be found.
Co­governanceisnot the answer,
despite its advocates already referring to
the ‘successes’ of the (as yet non­existent)
ECan model.
Another democratically based solution
needs to be found by central government
engaging with the whole of the
community.
The Ngai Tahu Bill should be either
rejected or parked, the 1987 ‘Lands’
judgement of Sir Robin Cooke re­visited,
and anew model developed, one based
on the multi­lateral nature of the Treaty
and the multi­cultural nature of our
country.
At the end of the day, Parliamentwill
have to makethe final decision on the
process but, as the outcome would bring
about constitutional change,itshould be
settled by way of areferendum.
Prior to that,however,Ithink thata
Royal Commission, independent of
Government (as with the consideration of
proportional representation in the
1990’s), is the best way to engage with the
publicand to produce proposals for all
parliamentarians to consider.
These are veryserious matters. While
this would take longer than aCabinet
decision laterthis year and enactment
soon after, it wouldbeabetter,
transparent process.
It mighteven get the support of all
parties.
Swell
Pegasus Bay
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Waimakariri 8:01am 2.1 1:49am 0.8 8:49am 2.0 2:35am 0.8 9:36am 2.0 3:22am 0.8 10:22am 2.0 4:10am 0.8 11:07am 2.1 4:58am 0.8 11:51am 2.1 5:45am 0.8 12:09am 2.2 6:29am 0.7
Mouth
8:21pm 2.2 2:04pm 0.8 9:06pm 2.2 2:49pm 0.8 9:51pm 2.2 3:36pm 0.8 10:36pm 2.2 4:23pm 0.8 11:22pm 2.2 5:10pm 0.8
5:58pm 0.8 12:36pm 2.1 6:45pm 0.8
Amberley 8:01am 2.1 1:49am 0.8 8:49am 2.0 2:35am 0.8 9:36am 2.0 3:22am 0.8 10:22am 2.0 4:10am 0.8 11:07am 2.1 4:58am 0.8 11:51am 2.1 5:45am 0.8 12:09am 2.2 6:29am 0.7
Beach
8:21pm 2.2 2:04pm 0.8 9:06pm 2.2 2:49pm 0.8 9:51pm 2.2 3:36pm 0.8 10:36pm 2.2 4:23pm 0.8 11:22pm 2.2 5:10pm 0.8
5:58pm 0.8 12:36pm 2.1 6:45pm 0.8
8:10am 2.1 1:58am 0.8 8:58am 2.0 2:44am 0.8 9:45am 2.0 3:31am 0.8 10:31am 2.0 4:19am 0.8 11:16am 2.1 5:07am 0.8
5:54am 0.8 12:18am 2.2 6:38am 0.7
Motunau 8:30pm 2.2 2:13pm 0.8 9:15pm 2.2 2:58pm 0.8 10:00pm 2.2 3:45pm 0.8 10:45pm 2.2 4:32pm 0.8 11:31pm 2.2 5:19pm 0.8 12:00pm 2.1 6:07pm 0.8 12:45pm 2.1 6:54pm 0.8
8:12am 2.1 2:00am 0.8 9:00am 2.0 2:46am 0.8 9:47am 2.0 3:33am 0.8 10:33am 2.0 4:21am 0.8 11:18am 2.1 5:09am 0.8
5:56am 0.8 12:20am 2.2 6:40am 0.7
Gore Bay 8:32pm 2.2 2:15pm 0.8 9:17pm 2.2 3:00pm 0.8 10:02pm 2.2 3:47pm 0.8 10:47pm 2.2 4:34pm 0.8 11:33pm 2.2 5:21pm 0.8 12:02pm 2.1 6:09pm 0.8 12:47pm 2.1 6:56pm 0.8
8:14am 1.4 2:05am 0.4 9:01am 1.4 2:52am 0.4 9:47am 1.4 3:38am 0.4 10:33am 1.4 4:24am 0.4 11:17am 1.4 5:09am 0.4
5:52am 0.4 12:17am 1.5 6:35am 0.4
Kaikoura 8:29pm 1.5 2:15pm 0.4 9:14pm 1.5 3:00pm 0.4 9:59pm 1.5 3:45pm 0.4 10:45pm 1.5 4:30pm 0.5 11:31pm 1.5 5:16pm 0.4 12:00pm 1.4 6:02pm 0.4 12:43pm 1.4 6:49pm 0.4
*Not for navigational purposes. Wind and swell are based on apoint off Gore Bay. Maori Fishing Guide by Bill Hohepa. www.ofu.co.nz www.tidespy.com Graphic supplied by OceanFun Publishing Ltd.
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