9. Freshwater Management—Establishment of Kāhui Wai MāoriHon SCOTT SIMPSON (National—Coromandel) to the Minister for the EnvironmentFreshwater Management—Establishment of Kāhui Wai Māori9. Hon SCOTT SIMPSON (National—Coromandel) to the Minister for the Environment: What success if any has he had in establishing Kahui Wai Māori - the Māori Freshwater Forum?Hon DAVID PARKER (Minister for the Environment): Nominations for Kāhui Wai Māori were opened a week ago. The Government has already received a substantial number of nominations and expressions of interest from Māori groups and individuals.Hon Scott Simpson: What consultation if any did the Government undertake with Iwi Chairs Forum on the establishment of Kāhui Wai Māori?Hon DAVID PARKER: The Minister for Crown/Māori Relations has met on a number of occasions with iwi chairs and iwi leaders and had made clear the interest of the Government to have a broader conversation with Māoridom that is inclusive of that group but not limited to it.Hon Scott Simpson: Does his failure to consult fully with the Iwi Chairs Forum on the establishment of Kāhui Wai Māori meet the level of partnership referred to by the Prime Minister at Waitangi earlier this year and if not why not?Hon DAVID PARKER: The Iwi Chairs Forum is one of a number of Māori leadership bodies. Others include the New Zealand Māori Council which has a statutory role and of course is one of the claimants to the Waitangi Tribunal claim in respect to water and was one of the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court decision relating to Mighty River Power and the sell-off by the last Government of shares in State-owned enterprises. We believe that they and the Federation of Māori Authorities and others ought to be also consulted.Nuk Korako: What does real partnership with Māori entail in relation to freshwater rights?Hon DAVID PARKER: We believe that it's already apparent that Māori are involved in decision-making processes in respect of water at all levels of Government. The three parties of the coalition all have Māori in leadership roles. The Labour Party holds all of the Māori electorates and has the highest number of MPs of Māori descent that any party has ever had in New Zealand. We also respect the different views of Māoridom outside of Parliament and working together we will do our best to resolve these complex issues.Hon Shane Jones: In the context of Māori freshwater issues what obstacles now lie in front of him as a consequence of the words of appeasement offered by the last Government to buy off the iwi leaders at the Supreme Court to the detriment of the Indians and cowboys"?SPEAKER: No no. No responsibility.Hon Scott Simpson: Does the Minister consider it consistent with the principles of the Treaty partnership for the Government to insist that it will choose who represent Māori on Kāhui Wai Māori?Hon DAVID PARKER: The point that we've made is that we actually don't want to start another journey to bring up to speed people that don't already have a deep understanding of the complexity around water issues. New Zealand has been grappling with these issues for over a decade. The last Government with the Freshwater Iwi Leaders Group was unable to resolve the curly issues that lie at the bottom of this. We wanted to engage with all viewpoints within Māoridom. We do have a role in appointing those positions through Cabinet which as I said has representatives of Māori embedded within it because we want to be able to move forward in a way that meets the proper interests of our country.Hon Scott Simpson: What discussions has he had with iwi on the Government's proposal to introduce a levy on bottled water given previous statements that it was "so easy it could be done by lunchtime" and that 300 lunchtimes have passed without progress?SPEAKER: Order! No no—the member will resume his seat. That is not a question which relates to the primary question or to any of the previous supplementaries.Hon Shane Jones: Can the Minister confirm that the New Zealand Māori Council and the Federation of Māori Authorities played a key and critical role in advancing litigation pertaining to other natural resources including fisheries and forestry?SPEAKER: Order! The member will resume his seat. Those are not matters which the Minister has responsibility for.Hon Shane Jones: Speaking to the point of order.SPEAKER: No there's not a point of order.Hon Shane Jones: No no there is.SPEAKER: I've ruled Mr Jones.Hon Shane Jones: Well that's disappointing."