Bay of Plenty Regional Council candidates have been quizzed on their environment views. Photo / Alex Cairns
Māori should have a significant role in the protection of natural resources, many regional council election candidates believe.
Tauranga local Manu Caddie asked Bay of Plenty Regional Council election candidates 18 questions about their concerns around pollution, regional council resources, funding and environmental monitoring ahead of the October 11 election.
Twenty-seven of the 47 candidates responded.
Candidates were asked: “What role should local iwi and hapū have in relation to the protection and utilisation of natural resources in their rohe?”.
Caddie said 80% of respondents said the role should be significant.
“The role of mana whenua and decision making came through really strongly.”
“With the current Government’s push to reduce Māori involvement in local and central government decision-making processes, it’s good to see, from my perspective, strong support for that to continue.”
A Government-imposed referendum is running alongside the election, asking if people want Māori wards for councils that introduced them after 2020.
Mauao constituency candidate Ange Webster said local iwi and hapū should have a strong role in the protection of resources through kaitiakitanga, the principle of guardianship.
“This involves actively participating in decision-making processes related to resource management, contributing their traditional knowledge and values, and ensuring the sustainability of these resources for future generations.”
Western Bay of Plenty constituency candidate Neil Parker said Māori were welcome to offer their views alongside other ratepayers.
“There is no need to distinguish between ethnicities in governmental (local and central) activity. Indeed, to do so will inevitably create more problems than it solves.”
Caddie said his experience as a Gisborne district councillor, from 2010 to 2014, showed him the importance of having “good people” around the table, so he wanted to find out more about the candidates and share it with people.
Gisborne District Council is a unitary authority that covers both district and regional council functions.
“The more mechanisms for finding out where candidates stand on the issues, the better.”
This was especially because of “the rise of idiots on social media fomenting baseless outrage by misrepresenting the position of candidates and/or council decisions”, he said.
“Our democracy is in trouble if we leave it up to the keyboard warriors and conspiracy theorists to drive public opinion.”
Caddie said he did not want to be a councillor again, but he wanted to help voters elect the best people through information.
He grew up in Tauranga, runs a business and is involved with environmental issues across Tauranga Moana as a Ngāti Pūkenga trustee and co-ordinator of the iwi’s taiao (environment) team at Welcome Bay.
He was also a Resource Management Act commissioner and said he was interested in ensuring there was a strong democracy and participatory decision-making in communities nationwide.
“Local government is undervalued and holds heaps of potential for sustainable economic, social and environmental wellbeing.”
Regional councils had “significant statutory responsibilities for environmental protection”, so he wanted the questions to emphasise this.
Caddie said strong survey support for more biodiversity protection and restoration was “really encouraging” and a “pleasant surprise”.
Sixteen respondents said too few of the regional council’s resources were allocated to achieving indigenous biodiversity protection and restoration in the region.
Nine were not sure, and two said the resource allocation was about right.
Twenty people said they were extremely concerned about biodiversity restoration, six were somewhat concerned, and one was not very concerned.
Caddie was also an advocate for the rights of nature being recognised in legal processes, so he included a question about this.
For the question; “Do you support legal recognition of the rights of nature within Bay of Plenty Regional Council planning and decisions (eg, rivers, harbours, forests as legal persons)”, 20 candidates said they were possibly interested or keen to explore the idea.
Three were definitely not interested, two probably not and one was unsure.
All respondents were concerned about water pollution, with 82% extremely concerned, and the rest were somewhat concerned.
Air pollution also registered strongly, with 26 of the 27 candidates at least somewhat concerned.
Voting closes midday on October 11.
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.