Pita Tipene (Ngāti Hine) said he was angry and frustrated about a call to remove Te Mana o te Wai principles from Northland’s freshwater plan.
Photo: Northern Advocate / Michael Cunningham

A Māori leader has hit out over a call to remove Te Mana o te Wai principles from Northland’s freshwater plan.

Northland Regional Council (NRC) chair Geoff Crawford earlier this week said the principle of Te Mana o te Wai should be scrapped from the government’s new plans for freshwater management and for the council’s freshwater plan.

Pita Tipene (Ngāti Hine) – whose positions include co-chair of NRC’s joint Te Tai Tokerau Māori and Council (TTMAC) working party – said he was angry and frustrated about Crawford’s call.

Tipene said Te Mana o te Wai principles, which put the health of water above that of humans and the economy, needed to stay in the North’s developing freshwater plan – and in any government freshwater approach.

“Without water we have nothing,” Tipene said.

When asked what it meant for the head of a regional council working party to be in opposition to his views, Crawford said both were focused on wanting the same outcome for freshwater.

“It’s great to see we’re both very passionate about wanting the same outcome for freshwater, but we might have different opinions on the journey,” Crawford said.

New Zealand’s incoming government last week said it would change aspects of the National Policy Statement (NPS-FM) regulations that give direction to regional councils to develop freshwater management plans.

Crawford has since called for the removal of Te Mana o te Wai principles from NRC’s freshwater management plan for the region.

He said Te Mana o te Wai placed undue financial burden amounting to billions of dollars on Northland’s farmers and landowners, including those on Māori land.

Northland Regional Council chair Geoff Crawford.
Photo: LDR / Susan Botting

Huge extra costs were involved in fencing off steeper land to exclude stock or having to get resource consents to farm them on this land category.

Crawford said this was the single biggest issue landowners were worried about during the draft Freshwater Plan’s public consultation.

However, Tipene said Te Mana o te Wai principles should stay.

The mana or mauri (life force) or water was paramount above all else, he added.

“It is important all New Zealanders put the health of our water ahead of anything else.”

Tipene said he would next be talking with fellow TTMAC members.

TTMAC comprises up to 30 members of councillors and appointed iwi and hapū members from Tai Tokerau Māori.

TTMAC’s goals include protecting, restoring and improving the mauri of Northland’s waterways.

Te Mana o te Wai principles, which underpin freshwater regulations, were introduced in 2020. They seek to recognise the mana and mauri of water, while encompassing the relationship between water, the wider environment and communities.

Hūhana Lyndon was also worried about the “about-face” on the draft freshwater plan.
Photo: Northern Advocate / Supplied

Tai Tokerau-based Green MP Hūhana Lyndon (Ngāti Hine, Ngatiwai, Ngā hapū o Whangārei) said she was also “also gravely concerned about this massive about-face” on the draft freshwater plan.

“”It took my breath away. I thought ‘are you kidding me?’,”

Lyndon said the government had changed but ultimately that did not mean the plan, which was a Northland plan put together by Northlanders for Northland, should also have to change.

“NRC has played an important role in co-ordinating this plan, with its many voices. Many points have been touched on and very many voices have been heard,” Lyndon said.

“That work should not be for nothing,” Lyndon said.

“It has been an exciting time in Northland. The freshwater is a tribute to hapū, iwi and the community for the mahi tahi (working together) they’ve put in.

Crawford said he backed Lyndon’s shared enthusiasm for what was the beginning of a very important journey towards freshwater health in Northland.

“It’s great to hear that everyone is so passionate about that,” he said.

Northlanders had until the end of March to have their say on the new plan.

Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air