Katene Rahui: Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Katene Rahui: Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:662;Page:10704] 
RAHUI KATENE (Maori Party—Te Tai Tonga) 
: 
 The Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill has only just been introduced but we got a heads-up on it from Mr Hide. In his intemperate opposition to the Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill last month he condemned the notion that the Waikato River could be considered a tupuna with the mana the spiritual authority and power and the mauri the life force of the Waikato-Tainui. He stated: “I do not happen to believe it. I think it is hocus-pocus. But what we are doing is legislating this hocus-pocus”. Then he said: “I oppose it as the Minister of Local Government I oppose it as the leader of the ACT Party and I oppose it as a New Zealander.” Well I have to say to Mr Hide that as a member of Parliament for a Maori electorate as a member of the Maori Party and as a Maori New Zealander I say that the statements that he is making have to jeopardise the credibility of a Government that is working with Waikato-Tainui to settle this matter. They suggest that either Mr Hide is skating on thin ice or the Government is being dragged around by the nose by a party that is struggling to achieve more than the margin of error in the polls. 
The fact is that the relationship between iwi and the Crown requires decision makers to think about Maori values practices and interests in both the Local Government Act 2002 and the Resource Management Act including the need to recognise and provide for the relationship of Maori and their culture and traditions with their ancestral lands water sites wahi tapu and other taonga having particular regard to kaitiakitanga and taking into account the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. 
I want to establish the status of the Treaty relationship right up front because the bill we are debating today will be of huge importance to Maori. Although the bill aims to amend the Local Government Act 2002 to improve transparency accountability and financial management in reality it is about the control and provision of water services and water infrastructure. That brings me back to the Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill. In that bill we are told: “The Waikato River is a single indivisible living thing that flows from Te Taheke Hukahuka o Te Puuaha o Waikato … and includes its waters banks and beds (and all minerals under them) and its streams waterways tributaries lakes aquatic fisheries vegetation flood plains wetlands islands springs water column airspace and substratum as well as its metaphysical being.” That is specific concrete terminology spelling out in black and white the relationship that Waikato-Tainui have with their river; it is hardly hocus-pocus. So when the Minister of Local Government comes to the question of water services and water infrastructure in the Waikato rohe he will find himself already offside with at least half of the authority charged with caring for the river and for the water that flows its length and breadth. 
This amendment bill aims to remove unnecessary barriers to water infrastructure development by reducing restrictions on private sector involvement in the delivery of water services. It is the first step towards privatising water in Aotearoa. This bill also aims to remove unnecessary consultation on matters of interest. The effect of this provision is that local bodies will no longer have to consider the views of affected people Maori or otherwise. Consultation will go out of the window even though the Local Government Act 2002 requires councils to ensure that Maori are involved in local body decision-making processes. 
We know that there are some good councils out there that engage with Maori in positive ways but we also know of councils that are deliberately lagging behind. Although the Act emphasises the participation and involvement of Maori it does not direct councils to any particular groups representing Maori interests. We sometimes find that councils deal with their obligations to consult by talking to a Maori staff member rather than to tangata whenua effectively sidestepping their commitment to mana whenua. This is in direct opposition to Maori Party policy which states: “Issues around water must include mana whenua including water rights and privatisation.” 
This bill also takes away the process of consultation between local bodies and the community on water issues reducing those who pay for and use the water to having no say whatsoever over the way in which their most precious resource will be managed. In fact this bill will put private contractors in charge of water services without any accountability for the supply of those services. It reminds me of a comment I saw in a recent article called “Waiting in the wings: Privatisation of your water” by Warwick Taylor of the Wellington Residents’ Coalition. He stated: “Water is protected under law but they are seeking to change that. Why not just do away with democracy altogether if it’s cheaper.” Given the thrust of this bill I shudder to think what this Government’s answer might be to that question. 
This bill is another step down a slippery slope. The memory of democracy is being used as a waterslide to ease the way for the privatisation of critical resources. We oppose the loss of democracy by the Maori community and by the wider community that we saw in the Environment Canterbury legislation last month. We oppose the unaccountability of private contractors. We challenge the right of this Government or any Government to deny Maori their Treaty rights to water and we will do whatever is necessary to establish a process that is truly Treaty-based that recognises the value of local government input and that restores the mana of water all around the country to the status expressed in the Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill. This bill threatens at a very fundamental level many of the principles that the Maori Party believes in and we oppose it on those grounds.