Te Maruata calls for Government to reverse decision on partnership agreements with Māori

Local government’s Māori elected members are deeply concerned by the Government's decision to remove Mana Whakahono ā Rohe agreements from the Planning Bill and Natural Environment Bill.

Te Maruata, the national network of Māori elected members within Local Government New Zealand, wants the Government to reverse its decision before the Bills' second reading.

Te Maruata co-chairs Aubrey Ria and Dinnie Moeahu say Mana Whakahono ā Rohe are practical relationship agreements that set out how councils and iwi will work together through planning and resource management processes.

"Many councils and iwi have invested significant time, expertise and goodwill since 2017 into building these arrangements.

"Councils tell us that Mana Whakahono ā Rohe agreements provide a useful tool to support durable, long-term partnerships with iwi in a way that reduces uncertainty and ad hoc approaches.

The co-chairs say existing Mana Whakahono ā Rohe should be retained – and new agreements should be able to be created in the new system.

Dinnie Moeahu says Mana Whakahono ā Rohe agreements have been widely misunderstood by the public.

"We want to be very clear that these agreements do not hand decision making power to iwi," says Dinnie Moeahu.

"They don't override decisions elected members around the council table make.” 

Aubrey Ria says the Government has said the reason for the change is a “surge of interest” in these agreements since the reform legislation was introduced.

“But these agreements were introduced by a National Government in 2017 to create a partnership mechanism and that’s exactly what we have been doing.

“It’s hard to understand why the current government is punishing that uptake. We can only assume it’s a political reaction to Māori participation succeeding rather than evidence-based policy."

Dinnie Moeahu says it’s also rung alarm bells that the change to remove all Mana Whakahono ā Rohe agreements, including those that have been in place for years, was made after the Select Committee process had finished.

"That means that the public don't have any say in the decision. Similarly, Iwi and councils who had spent years developing these agreements were not consulted. They found out at the same time as the public.

"Te Maruata remains committed to working constructively with the Government of the day. But it has to start with Ministers talking to Māori when they're considering decisions that affect our people and communities.

The co-chairs say this is not the only decision negatively impacting Māori.

“We are seeing a number of changes across local government, including resource management, water services and Treaty-related legislation, that reduces opportunities for Māori to participate in decisions that affect our communities and environment," says Aubrey Ria.

"The Government still has an opportunity to reverse its decision, and we would commend them if they did so given the feedback," Dinnie Moeahu said.