6. Question No. 6—Environment (Biodiversity)DEBBIE NGAREWA-PACKER (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori) to the Associate Minister for the Environment (Biodiversity)Question No. 6—Environment (Biodiversity)6. DEBBIE NGAREWA-PACKER (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori) to the Associate Minister for the Environment (Biodiversity): What actions if any has he taken to respond to the concerns of Māori in Te Tai Tokerau in regard to the draft National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity and to ensure that the establishment of Significant Natural Areas does not undermine the rights and interests of mana whenua and Māori landowners?Hon JAMES SHAW (Associate Minister for the Environment (Biodiversity)): Māori land ownership goes hand in hand with the protection of indigenous biodiversity. The requirement for councils to identify classify and protect areas with significant habitats of plants and animals has existed under the Resource Management Act for decades and there are many significant natural areas (SNAs) throughout Aotearoa. However a lack of guidelines on how councils should do this has led to inconsistent approaches and a worsening situation for our indigenous biodiversity. In Te Tai Tokerau Māori have quite rightly raised concerns about the council's failure to engage properly over SNAs. I have welcomed the council's decision to pause and reset their processes. The issue in the Far North has not arisen because of the draft National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity; it has arisen because of a poor process carried out locally and the next version of the national policy statement (NPS) can help to fix that. It will do this by enabling a more flexible approach to Māori land which recognises the rights and interests of whānau hapū and iwi to develop their land and to look after indigenous biodiversity. I have instructed officials to ensure that the next version of the NPS will address the concerns raised by Māori in Te Tai Tokerau and to avoid similar issues happening again. Throughout this process we have listened closely to the feedback provided by iwi Māori and the next draft of the NPS will be available for further comment soon. Once finalised the NPS will be a crucial part of our efforts to reverse the decline in Aotearoa New Zealand's unique biodiversity and to protect our natural taonga for years to come.Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: Wasn't this fiasco inevitable given that the draft national policy statement lacks teeth in terms of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and fails to recognise the customary proprietary and decision-making rights and interests of tangata whenua as they relate to indigenous biodiversity?Hon JAMES SHAW: When the draft policy statement was circulated in 2018-19 there were about 7000 submissions made including a number from iwi organisations and we've listened very closely to the feedback that we have received about that. One of the reasons why the NPS has been delayed was so that we could do further work on exactly those provisions that the member is concerned about.Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: Does he think it's possible to achieve environmental protection and restoration of indigenous biodiversity without recognising the kaitiaki and rangatira rights and interests of mana whenua?Hon JAMES SHAW: No absolutely I do not believe that. I believe that when the next draft of the national policy statement is circulated in a couple of months' time that member will I hope see that the role that Māori have as kaitiaki is well recognised within the new draft of that national policy statement.Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: Will he support an amendment to the draft national policy statement that requires the explicit agreement and consent of mana whenua before significant natural areas are identified and approved; and if not why not? Hon JAMES SHAW: Well I think the member is referring to the exposure draft that was circulated in 2018-19. There's actually been a significant amount of work done to that which is not yet out in the public domain because the new draft has not yet been to Cabinet and has not yet been circulated. But I do hope that the member will see that her concerns are reflected in the new draft when it is circulated.Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: How will the Minister ensure that mana whenua have prior knowledge and agreement of what he's going to do?Hon JAMES SHAW: Can I ask the member to clarify the question in terms of the last part of that question?Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: Sorry my apologies. You've asked that you're going to review it and you've advised that there will be change. So I'm just asking how you will be engaging with mana whenua and Māori land owners to ensure that that happens correctly.Hon JAMES SHAW: I think there's two components to that. One is that when the new draft of the national policy statement is circulated there will be a process by which we engage with Māori on that so that people can see what has changed since the first exposure draft and how that feedback that the Government has received has been taken into account and that is absolutely my intention. The second part of that is that the national policy statement itself contains direction to councils on how they are supposed to engage with iwi Māori in the identification and protection of areas of significance.Hon Nanaia Mahuta: Can the Minister confirm that the collaborative working group that contributed to preparing the new draft National Policy Statement on Indigenous Biodiversity included a broad range of stakeholder groups including Federated Farmers and representatives from the Iwi Leaders Group?Hon JAMES SHAW: Yes I can confirm that and in addition to having the active involvement of the iwi chairs through the Pou Taiao Iwi Leaders Group the predecessor to the language in the National Policy Statement was drafted by Māori as well.David Seymour: Does the Minister's earlier statement that Māori land ownership goes hand in hand with conserving indigenous biodiversity" apply equally to non-Māori land ownership and if not why not?Hon JAMES SHAW: There are different provisions in the draft statement for Māori land as opposed to general and other land classes and that is I think in recognition of two things one of which is the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi itself and also a recognition that Māori land owners have been disadvantaged under the status quo.Hon Nanaia Mahuta: Is the Minister aware of exemplars where private landowners have participated in restoring the biodiversity nature of their land interests in places like Taranaki?Hon JAMES SHAW: Yes I am aware that there are cases around the country where this has been done well and it is unfortunate that they have been overshadowed recently where it has not been done well. The Waikato Regional Council runs an indigenous biodiversity programmed called Restoring nature connecting communities. The programme began in 2016 and is funded by the 2015-2025 Long-term Plan. It's an implementation framework for groups such as territorial authorities mana whenua interest groups and landowners to work together more effectively to protect and enhance indigenous biodiversity in the Waikato."