“Quite simply, removing Māori rights removes protections for the natural environment,” write Kayla Kingdon-Bebb (pictured) and Carwyn Jones. (Photo supplied)
The government’s focus on ripping Te Tiriti obligations from law and policy clears the way for a follow-up attack on our natural world, write Kayla Kigdon-Bebb and Carwyn Jones.
Something more than race relations and social cohesion is being damaged by the government’s attempts to dismiss Te Tiriti. The wellbeing of our natural environment is also at stake. In fact, these things are intimately connected.
In many countries around the world, Indigenous rights have acted as a bulwark against unfettered exploitation of the natural world. Similarly, here in Aotearoa, the recognition of Māori rights has enhanced our environmental protections.
Moves to sideline tangata whenua from decisions about the management of our shared lands, fresh water, ocean and indigenous biodiversity should therefore be understood as an integral part of the government’s “war on nature”. Quite simply, removing Māori rights removes protections for the natural environment.
Much has already been written about the contentious Fast-track Approvals Bill, which passed into law late last year. It prioritises development above all else, and sets Aotearoa New Zealand on a path to widespread environmental destruction in the name of profit from extractive industries. It further jeopardises the survival of our many native species and ecosystems that are already on the brink of extinction.
The deeply problematic fast-track regime places no duty on decision-makers to give effect to the principles of the Treaty. Worryingly, it suppresses public and tangata whenua participation and largely bypasses opportunities for kaitiaki, other environmental experts and local communities to contribute their expertise to shaping any new development proposals.
For example, Taranaki iwi Ngāti Ruanui have consistently opposed the spectre of seabed mining in their rohe and have successfully fought Trans-Tasman Resources in court over and over again. Despite this, the ill-conceived seabed mining project has been added to the list of fast-track projects. Yet again the concerns of mana whenua, which are shared by the local community, have been ignored.
Meanwhile, the Regulatory Standards Bill is quietly going through the consultation process with little fanfare. The bill sounds rather dry, but don’t be deceived by its uninspired title. This legislation, if drafted and passed in line with the current proposal, will put individual and property rights above all others. This would further threaten Indigenous rights and the health of our environment by weakening compliance standards and environmental protections. Yet, there has been little discussion in the public arena about this piece of legislation or its potentially profound constitutional ramifications.
There is too much to traverse in one piece. But it feels remiss not to mention that we also have a conservation minister who has said that saving all our native species would be “too expensive” — and a government that thinks it’s okay to allow commercial fishing in protected areas of the Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana, despite vehement opposition from iwi and hapū, environmental groups, and the wider community. Collectively, they are gravely concerned for this biodiversity hotspot, which is now at the point of ecological collapse.
In Aotearoa, if we are to move forward together to counter the twin existential crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, we need to ensure tangata whenua are part of the decision-making — rather than locking iwi and hapū out of the process altogether.
Some of the most effective and transformational environmental policy in the past two decades has its genesis in mātauranga Māori. Tangata whenua have important insight into how we can counter the climate and biodiversity crises in Aotearoa. Making space for — and honouring — Indigenous leadership is key to protecting all that we love about being New Zealanders.
The government’s systematic assault on our natural world threatens to undermine these deep connections and sow divisions among us.
But as we’ve seen with te hīkoi mō Te Tiriti and the overwhelming response to the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill, there are many New Zealanders who won’t let this go unopposed.
We will continue to stand up for the rights of tangata whenua and for the rights of future generations of New Zealanders to live on a habitable planet.
We’ve made too much progress together over the last few decades to turn back.
Dr Kayla Kingdon-Bebb is the chief executive of WWF-New Zealand and a specialist in Treaty law and environmental policy.
Dr Carwyn Jones (Ngāti Kahungunu) is Pūkenga Matua (Lead Academic) of Ahunga Tikanga (Māori Laws and Philosophy) at Te Wānanga o Raukawa, and Honorary Adjunct Professor, Te Kawa a Māui (School of Māori Studies) at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington.
Thank you for reading E-Tangata. If you like our focus on Māori and Pasifika stories, interviews, and commentary, we need your help. Our content takes skill, long hours and hard work. But we're a small team and not-for-profit, so we need the support of our readers to keep going.
If you support our kaupapa and want to see us continue, please consider making a one-off donation or contributing $5 or $10 a month.
