The Freshwater Iwi Leaders' Group has welcomed the Mana Whakahono-a-Rohe amendments secured by the Māori Party to the Resource Management Act (RMA) last week, saying they enhanced mechanisms for tangata whenua participation in the management of natural resources.
"We strongly support the changes, which create a new opportunity for iwi and hapū to engage with councils in a more equitable way," deputy chairman Sir Mark Solomon said.
"We believe that resource-sapping Treaty settlements should not be the sole avenue for iwi to obtain meaningful and collaborative relationships with councils, and the proposed changes to the RMA will enable all iwi to develop agreements with the local authorities in their rohe, thereby improving the engagement of local government with tangata whenua."
The proposed amendments establish Mana Whakahono-a-Rohe agreements, which will require iwi and councils to develop a shared understanding of each other's expectations and roles regarding RMA issues, which will be recorded in a formal agreement.
Sir Mark said the agreements would provide significant benefit to both iwi and councils, but would also deliver much-needed certainty to a wider range of stakeholders.