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Post by Kiwi Frontline on Nov 29, 2018 16:19:18 GMT 12
CROWN HAS 'FAILED' TO PROTECT FRESH WATER, INDEPENDENT BODY NEEDED - NZ MĀORI COUNCILA Māori water rights claim wants to see the country's rivers and lakes treated as public goods instead of a "free lunch" to commercial interests. The Waitangi Tribunal is this week hearing the closing submissions into a claim over Māori rights to fresh water, following the government decision in 2012 to put shares in state-owned power companies up for sale. Ownership of water - whether by Māori, nobody, or everybody - has been the focus of a debate around allocation and management issues.... "The RMA has become a vehicle for providing a free lunch to commercial interests, such as water bottling companies. Many have derived immense financial wealth from their 'free' water. Those who use it for private commercial benefit should pay for it." An Independent Water Commission would be made up of half Māori representatives, chosen by Māori, and be funded by charging those who used water commercially. What Māori ownership of fresh water would mean for the general population was still to be determined. "That is a huge question, but we want the Government to recognise native title to fresh water, and then we can sit down and discuss it...... www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12167660
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