Clendon David: Resource Management (Enhancement of Iwi Management Plans) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Clendon David: Resource Management (Enhancement of Iwi Management Plans) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 21 July 2010. Volume:665;Page:12599. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
DAVID CLENDON (Green) 
: 
 Kia ora koutou. The Resource Management (Enhancement of Iwi Management Plans) Amendment Bill that we are discussing clearly seeks to enhance the status of iwi management plans in developing district plans and regional policy statements. It does this through a very simple mechanism of changing some language within the Resource Management Act from “take into account” to “recognise and provide for”. As politicians—and for some indeed as lawyers—we know the power of language. Language matters. This is a very simple but very appropriate change to make in the context of the wider legislation. 
As a party committed to te Tiriti and to recognising Maori as tangata whenua the Greens are very happy to support this bill and the intention underpinning it which is to enhance the role mana whenua play in the management and development of the rohe. It is a very small step towards more comprehensive acknowledgment of rangatiratanga. 
It seems that much of the opposition to this bill—in particular to the notion of enhancing iwi management plans and more generally to a deeper level of Maori engagement in resource management—comes from a fear I think of conflict between Maori activity ideas and developments and environmental protection or indeed economic development. For many people these things cannot coexist. Clearly this is an ill-founded fear and it is simply not true. There are numerous examples of why it is not true. 
In a technical sense this particular bill’s giving a stronger foundation and a higher status to iwi management plans would not elevate the plans to a level where they could in any way compromise or threaten the overarching primary criterion of the Resource Management Act which is the promotion of sustainable management. Section 6(e) of the Act already recognises and provides for iwi concerns. The sky has not fallen. This is not a veto right; it is simply a means of adding more weight to Maori issues Maori concerns and Maori aspirations. 
I studied resource management at Lincoln University in 1993-94 only a couple of years after the Resource Management Act had come into force. At that time there was considerable optimism within Maoridom that this very new radically different regime would give Maori greater opportunities to be actively involved and to affect the management of our natural and physical resources. Some very high-quality analysis and review were done through the resource management law review process of the late 1980s; again this was cause for optimism. I had the good fortune to be influenced by some of the people at the centre for Maori studies at Lincoln University as it was then not least one Hirini Matunga who had some extraordinarily innovative and creative ideas about how Maori and non-Maori planning processes could run in parallel in tandem and give us richer and deeper outcomes. Sadly a lot of that early promise has not been fulfilled largely because Maori have constantly found themselves struggling to find that point of entry to get real influence and some traction in terms of creating these high-level documents—the district plans the policy statements. They are constantly forced into a position of reaction and objection which is not helpful. 
The Maori world view is naturally integrative. The Resource Management Act was intended to enhance integrated management at an ecosystem level a regional level and a catchment level. Maori do this almost intuitively. But we are not seeking to rely simply on some spiritual or cultural value. I have personally witnessed some extremely good work done by young Maori students of mine their peers and their own teachers who are looking for creative ways of blending Western science and Western economic and cultural norms and practices with matauranga Maori with Maori knowledge and with Maori aspirations. These models exist; they could be applied. This bill in raising the status of iwi management plans would be a useful step towards encouraging much better outcomes for Maori and non-Maori alike. Kia ora koutou.