Freshwater Iwi Leaders Group co-chairman Gerrard Albert, who is also chairman of Ngā Tāngata Tiaki o Whanganui, the Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River) post-settlement governance entity, says the draft includes Te Oranga o te Taiao, a concept intended to express the intergenerational importance to Māori of environmental wellbeing.
“Te Oranga o te Taiao, which is something the ILG Freshwater has promoted, centralises a relationship around decision-making over natural resources with hapū and iwi.
“If it gets through the legislation process, it’s a reasonable way to view natural resources, to have us (meaning tiaki whenua, mana whenua, tangata whenua, iwi, hapū) intimately involved – and that’s what Te Awa Tupua does, it establishes that actually you can’t move without the hapū and iwi, the mana at place, having a say.”