Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River Settlement Bill 2008 (2010 No 302-2)

Transcription

1 Digest No Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River Settlement Bill 2008 (2010 No 302-2) Date of Introduction: 23 September 2008 Portfolio: Select Committee: Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Māori Affairs Date report presented: 24 March 2010 Published: 19 April 2010 by John McSoriley BA LL.B, Barrister, Legislative Analyst P: (04) (Ext. 9626) F: (04) Caution: This Digest was prepared to assist consideration of the Bill by members of Parliament. It has no official status. Although every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, it should not be taken as a complete or authoritative guide to the Bill. Other sources should be consulted to determine the subsequent official status of the Bill. Purpose The aim of the Bill is to give effect to a Deed of Settlement signed by the Crown and Waikato-Tainui on 22 August " The Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill would give effect to a Deed of Settlement signed by the Crown and Waikato-Tainui on 22 August We received submissions on the bill, but deferred hearing evidence on it after the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations wrote to us expressing concern about the workability and efficiency of the co-management framework set out in the bill. The Minister established an independent review panel to review and report on the Waikato River co-management arrangements. Following the report, the Crown and Waikato River iwi undertook negotiations leading to a revised Deed of Settlement being signed on 17 December 2009" 1. 1 Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill, 2010 No 302-2, As reported from the Māori Affairs Committee, Commentary, p. 1. 1

2 Background Outline of Select Committee's amendments "The revised Deed of Settlement would streamline the co-governance and co-management arrangements, and retain the clean-up fund. It would establish a single co-governance entity, the Waikato River Authority. The previous Deed of Settlement would have led to the establishment of five statutory boards. The Authority would be made up of equal numbers of Crown- and iwi-appointed members, including representatives of other iwi with interests along the river. It would be responsible for monitoring the implementation of a direction-setting document, the Vision and Strategy, Te Ture Whaimana. "We recommend significant amendments to the bill to reflect the revised governance and comanagement arrangements arising from the new Deed of Settlement. In summary, these changes affect seven key provisions of the bill as introduced. "Governance functions relating to the Waikato River would be consolidated in a single co-governance entity to be known as the Waikato River Authority. "The direction-setting document to be administered by the Waikato River Authority, the Vision and Strategy, would no longer have the status of a national policy statement; instead, it would be designated Te Ture Whaimana and become the primary direction-setting document for the Waikato River, taking precedence over national policy statements and other planning documents under the Resource Management Act "The Waikato River Clean-up Trust would then be established in legislation and the Trust s contestable fund would be administered by the Waikato River Authority rather than by separate trustees. "Iwi-appointed commissioners would participate in hearing committees and boards of inquiry in respect of applications for resource consents to take, use, dam, or divert water in the Waikato River; for pointsource discharge to the Waikato River; and for certain activities in relation to the Waikato River, which are listed in section 13 of the Resource Management Act "Joint management agreements would be required between Waikato-Tainui and the Waikato Regional Council and between Waikato-Tainui and relevant territorial authorities for specified functions under the Resource Management Act 1991 insofar as those functions related to the Waikato River and activities within its catchment affecting the Waikato River. "Certain specified customary activities of Waikato-Tainui in relation to the Waikato River would be recognised. "Provision would be made to vest certain river-related sites of significance in Waikato-Tainui; to vest certain Crown-owned lands administered for flood protection purposes in Waikato-Tainui, who would gift those lands to the Waikato Regional Council; and for Waikato-Tainui to participate in the comanagement of Crown-owned river-related lands. "We have structured our commentary under thematic headings covering the principal changes proposed to the bill so as to reflect the provisions of the revised Deed of Settlement. This means that changes to particular clauses are not discussed in strictly numerical order" 2. 2 Ibid., pp. 2 and 3. 2

3 Main changes to the Bill Waikato River Authority The Bill as introduced established the Guardians of the Waikato River and the Waikato River Statutory Board. The Select Committee has recommended the establishment of a new entity, the Waikato River Authority, to be the co-governance entity for the Waikato River and to replace the Guardians of the Waikato River and the Waikato River Statutory Board (Part 2, substituted Clause 15(1)). Composition of the Waikato River Authority The Select Committee has recommended that the Waikato River Authority be composed of: a membership of ten persons; five members appointed by the Minister for the Environment, including one nominated by Environment Waikato (i.e. the Regional Council) and one nominated by relevant territorial authorities; five members appointed by Waikato-Tainui, Raukawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Maniapoto, and Te Arawa River iwi; one co-chair appointed by the Crown-appointed members and one co-chair appointed by the iwiappointed members (Part 2, Clause 19; Schedule 3). Purpose of the Authority The purpose of the Waikato River Authority is to: provide direction through the vision and strategy to achieve the restoration and protection of the health and well-being of the Waikato River for future generations; promote an integrated, holistic, and co-ordinated approach to the implementation of the vision and strategy and the management of the Waikato River; fund rehabilitation initiatives for the Waikato River, in its role as trustee for the Waikato River Clean-up Trust (Part 2, substituted Clause 15(2)). General functions of the Authority The Bill provides that general functions of the Waikato River Authority are: to achieve its purpose; to engage with and provide advice as follows to local authorities on amending Resource Management Act 1991 planning documents to make them give effect to the vision and strategy, to the range of agencies with responsibilities relating to the Waikato River, including, without limitation, local authorities and biosecurity, conservation, and fisheries agencies, to achieve an integrated, holistic, and co-ordinated approach to the implementation of the vision and strategy and the management of the Waikato River, 3

4 to the Environmental Protection Authority; act as trustee for the Waikato River Clean-up Trust and, in that capacity, administer the contestable clean-up fund for the Waikato River; monitor the carrying out, effectiveness, and achievement of the principal function of the Authority, the implementation, effectiveness, and achievement of the vision and strategy, including any targets and methods, the implementation, effectiveness, and achievement of clean-up initiatives funded by the Waikato River Clean-up Trust; report at least every 5 years to the Crown, Waikato-Tainui, and the other appointers on the results of the above monitoring; periodically review the vision and strategy and, at the Authority's discretion, recommend amendments to it to the Crown, Waikato-Tainui, and the other appointers; request call-ins under the Resource Management Act 1991; establish and maintain the register; appoint commissioners to sit on hearings committees or boards of inquiry when required to do so under New Section 18C (hearing committees) or New Section 18D (Call-ins). The Select Committee has recommended the substitution or insertion of a number of new clauses to elaborate these functions (Part 2, substituted Clauses 16-18, inserting New Clauses 18A-18H). Vision and Strategy for the Waikato River- Te Ture Whaimana The Select Committee has recommended that the vision and strategy no longer have the status of a national policy statement, but be incorporated directly into the Waikato regional policy statement. The vision and strategy prevails over inconsistent provisions in a national policy statement and a New Zealand coastal policy statement. The Select Committee has also recommended that there be reviews of the vision and strategy no earlier than 5 years and no later than 10 years after the previous review (Part 2, inserting New Clause 9A-9F and New Clause 13B; cf. Schedule 2 sets out the details of the vision and strategy). Waikato River Clean-up Trust The Select Committee has recommended that the Bill provide for the establishment of the Waikato River Clean-up Trust and to set out the terms of Trust. The Waikato River Authority would be the trustee of the Waikato River Clean-up Trust. The object of the Trust is the restoration and protection of the health and well-being of the Waikato River for future generations. The Trust fund would be available on a contestable basis for use in projects proposed by any organisation or members of the community to achieve the object of the Trust (Part 2, inserting New Clause 18G; New Schedule 2C (Terms of Waikato River Clean-up Trust)). Iwi participation The Select Committee has recommended that the following provision be made for iwi participation: accredited commissioners appointed by Waikato-Tainui, Raukawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Maniapoto, and Te Arawa River iwi be appointed by the Waikato River Authority to Waikato Regional Council 4

5 hearing committees (for notified applications) and boards of inquiry (in the event of a call-in) in respect of the following kinds of resource consent applications- applications to take, use, dam, or divert water from or in the Waikato River, applications to make point-source discharges to the Waikato River, applications to carry out certain activities in relation to the Waikato River, as listed in Section 13 of the Resource Management Act 1991; the Waikato Regional Council and territorial authorities whose boundaries fall within, or partly within, the lower Waikato River catchment (from Karapiro to the mouth of the river) would be required to establish joint management agreements with Waikato-Tainui in relation to the Waikato River (Part 2, inserting New Clauses 29A-29O). Customary activities The Select Committee has recommended provisions to recognise and provide for the exercise of customary activities by members of Waikato-Tainui (Part 2, inserting New Clauses 30A-30E; inserting New Schedule 2A (Authorised customary activities)). Cultural harvest The Select Committee has recommended allowing Waikato-Tainui to authorise iwi members to harvest flora material for cultural purposes in accordance with a flora cultural harvest plan to be agreed with the Director-General of Conservation. Regulation-making powers are amended accordingly (Part 2, inserting New clause 30F). Copyright: NZ Parliamentary Library, 2010 Except for educational purposes permitted under the Copyright Act 1994, no part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including information storage and retrieval systems, other than by Members of Parliament in the course of their official duties, without the consent of the Parliamentary Librarian, Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand. This document may also be available through commercial online services and may be viewed and reproduced in accordance with the conditions applicable to those services. 5