KEY POINTS:
Deals involving co-managing natural resources between iwi and local bodies are the way of the future, one of the key leaders involved in protecting the Hauraki Gulf believes.
Hauraki District Mayor John Tregidga chairs the forum that brings together every council (12 in all), tangata whenua and two Government ministers that have an impact on or interests in the vast reaches of the gulf.
Mr Tregidga's comment followed criticism from Marutuahu iwi confederation representatives who say even though a Resource Management Act mechanism for transferring decision-making power to Maori has existed since 1991, in 17 years no local or regional council has used the power.
No arrangements under successive acts such as the Hauraki Gulf Act, which provided for local councils to form management relationships, had been worked out either, they said.
Mr Tregidga said while that was true, the recent Waikato River Treaty co-management settlement, which gave iwi real decision-making power, was an example councils were watching closely.
"I think it is a way forward and it could provide the blueprint for local authorities. But Government entered the process - it's going to take central Government working with iwi to apply the right outcome.
"It's going to require the goodwill of all parties." But there had to be some acknowledgment that councils had come a long way since 1991, when work alongside iwi was "virtually nonexistent", Mr Tregidga said.
"In our defence local authorities have been consulting with iwi over resources. There has been a huge amount of resources put into that."
But under-representation of Maori on councils and as hearing commissioners was still a problem, he said.
In a report to the forum, the principal technical officer for Marutuahu, David Taipari, said having good iwi-council relationships and engaging in consultation wasn't the point - having a management say was.
"For so long as councils fail to utilise the range of statutory mechanisms allowing tangata whenua a direct, joint role in the management of Tikapa Moana [the gulf] under the RMA and HGA, resentment among tangata whenua will continue to escalate.
"The wero [challenge] is on them to do something."
But Maori were willing to work constructively with local councils, which is why the iwi had raised its concerns with the forum, Mr Taipari said. "The gulf forum is not a decision-making body, but it is a body full of decision-makers. That's important."
Ngati Wai forum member Laly Haddon said the broader issue of iwi and hapu having a better input into local government decisions was something the current Royal Commission on Inquiry on Auckland Governance would focus on.
His view was that Maori ward seats were not good enough. Particular hapu should be represented because they were more likely to be involved in issues within their own region, in contrast to a pan-Maori representative
