National off boil on lakes

By AUDREY YOUNG


National's campaign against the ownership of 13 Rotorua lakebeds being vested in the Te Arawa tribe lost steam after its initial burst this week.

But deputy leader and Maori Affairs spokesman Gerry Brownlee says there is plenty of time for the issue to be revisited."The Government hasn't even tabled the settlement bill yet," he said.

Mr Brownlee was with National leader Don Brash on Monday when the party announced its opposition to the lakes deal.

The party used three of its four questions in Parliament on Tuesday on the lakebed issue. Yesterday, National had three questions and used only one of them on the lakes. It used none of its speaking time in the general debate on the matter.

The Government used every one of its speaking slots to condemn Dr Brash's position.

Mr Brownlee said the issue of the day yesterday was "clearly the debacle over the local government elections".

"It is not unusual we would choose to make that a centrepiece for questioning."

National's conservation spokesman, Simon Power, questioned Conservation Minister Chris Carter on concerns about the deal that had been expressed by him and his officials.

He produced an earlier letter from Mr Carter to Treaty Negotiations Minister Margaret Wilson saying he was "not persuaded that settlement negotiations are the appropriate forum to address regulatory reform".

Mr Carter said they had had concerns about "the impact of the settlement of the autonomy of local authorities" but those concerns had been addressed with the agreement of the local government authorities.

"I believe that a partnership between Te Arawa, the Rotorua District Council, and Environment Bay of Plenty, with support from Government agencies, would ensure the best possible management of the lakes and we are likely to see a significant improvement in the health of the lakes' ecosystem".

Mr Power said the Te Arawa proposal was about "contemporary resource management issues" and was not a historical grievance settlement.