By Linda Te Aho
Some of the most profound challenges of modern times are also challenges for Mäori. In this article, Linda Te Aho explores how we can maximise our development opportunities whilst protecting valuable resources that we seem to take for granted, such as our fresh water?
The incoming government has undertaken review upon review in relation to the resource management framework; the climate change programme (including the emissions trading scheme); and freshwater management. In this climate of change, it is critical that Mäori continue to fight for the right to be meaningfully involved at all levels of decision-making, at all times, over resources that are not only strategically important, but that are viewed within a framework based on a spiritual connection to this earth. We must work together. There is strength in unity.
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Key quotes from this article:
“The growing problems of declining water quality and over-abstraction make clear that the Crown has failed to actively protect this taonga from the consequences of the settlement and development of the land.”
“Control of the water resource is vital if international experience is anything to go by. The world is running out of clean fresh water. Where demand exceeds supply, water is bought, sometimes from poor countries forced to privatise their water systems.”
“Despite New Zealand’s water rich, ‘100% Pure’ image, we cannot be complacent. Think back to the anxiety during the 2008 droughts. Think too of the degradation that has occurred over many decades as mining, farming, sewage disposal, and hydro-electricity have taken their toll on the health and wellbeing of our waterways.”
“Water is a taonga. Accessing clean fresh water is an issue of survival. Some consider it to be a human right. Controlling the water resource is fundamental to ensuring protection and access, and will certainly be one of the most critical battles that Mäori will face in the near future.”
“The National Government’s rhetoric illustrates that if Mäori assert a strong and unified voice, such as occurred in 2005, they can transform policy. There is an immediate window of opportunity for Mäori to influence the government’s preferred package of water reforms before the package is taken out for consultation in late 2010.”
“Mäori must work together if we are to make the most of this opportunity.”
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