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22nd
FEB
Cold Creek bill soon to become law
Posted by karere under Maori News
Controversial Cold Creek legislation, damned by the Maori Party, is set to become law despite complaints it undermines Treaty of Waitangi negotiations.
The South Taranaki District Council (Cold Creek Rural Water Supply) Bill successfully completed Parliament’s committee stage on Wednesday.
The bill transfers land from the South Taranaki District Council to the Cold Creek Community Water Supply Limited.
It will go to its third reading in in less than a fortnight.
The Cold Creek scheme in coastal Taranaki is within the electorate of Whanganui MP Chester Borrows who has championed the legislation on behalf of the farmers who set up the scheme three decades ago.
Mr Borrows said yesterday the bill was now poised to become law.
“It will easily get the numbers. It has the support of National, Labour, Act and United Future,” Mr Borrows said.
But Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia is calling for a halt to the bill’s progress on behalf of Taranaki iwi.
“The local iwi are absolutely opposed to this bill,” Mrs Turia told Parliament this week.
She said the relevant Taranaki iwi were not consulted, engaged or involved in the development of the bill despite being the traditional caretakers of the area.
The same iwi were currently engaged in settlement negotiations and could rightfully expect to be involved in the decision-making process involving the transfer of Crown assets out of Crown ownership, Mrs Turia said.
Taranaki iwi suffered some of the most serious breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi at the hands of the Crown.
“It is unconscionable that although the Crown is engaging in a process to redress these very serious breaches it continues on the other hand to perpetuate the unfair and unjust treatment of our people.”
Mr Borrows said the council did consult with iwi through its iwi consultation committee over several years. However, in hindsight he acknowledged that today it would have been done differently and consultation would have been directly with the affected iwi.
Mrs Turia said nothing had changed to give the Maori Party any confidence that the concerns iwi had raised regarding the lack of proper consultation, the privatisation of water infrastructure or future impacts on land value and access to water had been taken into account.
“There is a word that begins with ‘r’ that could describe the situation.
“It is the very least institutionalised discrimination that seemingly means Taranaki iwi have no say about what happens in their rohe,” Mrs Turia said.
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Mr Borrows said it was important to distinguish that scheme was not about water but about infrastructure - pipes and concrete.
“It is not about stream beds or creek beds and it is not about water. It is about a water supply conduit.”
Mr Borrows said the recently upgraded Opunake water supply, which had used Cold Creek water in the past when its own supply was contaminated, would still be able to use Cold Creek in emergency situations.
The Green Party is against the bill saying significant community assets should stay in public ownership and be available for all.
- © Fairfax NZ News
Read all the news [here]
Now we are seeing the true colours of our Mr Chester Burrows and Co a so called ex policeman-detective who since arriving in the house has used his influence in government to promote socially negative policy and assisting to bringing about the aggressive oppressive police state we now have in this country. I bet the owners of the company they are transferring these public water assets to and into which massive amounts of public money has already been injected into over the decades are cops, ex cops, lawyers or judges etc or at the very least relatives or descendants of the Royal British Armed Militia now called the NZ Police. What is quickly emerging in this country since the Tama Iti debacle, the Police taking the opportune moment to seize upon Article 3 of The Patriot Act to commandeer new powers from government without so much as a murmer or for any good a proper reason other than to persecute Maori so called Muzzy dissidents and the follow on consignment of many new and totally unwarranted powers. These now conferred upon the police without proper due diligence by the parliamentary oversight committee and without actually confirmed proof of their requirement in the supposed pursuit of crime and it pre-emptive prevention thereof. Meaning the police will tap your phone, track your Internet use and who you communicate with while parking outside your gate hoping to arrest if one doesn’t have the necessary pass papers. This push towards overbearing all pervasiveness in our face presence over only four million people on an island in the middle of the largest ocean on earth bears great similarities to what was once the daily fest in South Africa and elsewhere there. Notice lame brain Chesters latest attempt to attack the poor and less well of in seeking to pass a new law targeting DPB fraud via their supposed partners in a feeble attempt to save $20M. Can he guarantee the saving will occur in writing while also posting an indemnity bond for excess cost in pursuing such a minor amount. Also can he guarantee the negative ongoing results for the children won’t compound to cause more payments well in excess of suppose funds to be saved. These budget overruns of course would far exceed the supposed amount to be saved with His bill. Man’s has lost the plot and I think its time he was removed. This latest attack on the beneficiaries is totally unwarranted and any figures he produces to justify an new law need to be carefully examined by independent bodies outside if parliament for again and again we often find that the costs overruns are tens of millions more than would be saved.It does not mean we condone the crime if any but lets use some common sense here a stop this dumb idea of rushing through new laws when we we do not have true and actually independently assessed data from which to make and informed decision. I think the days of Kiwi’s trusting our police and politicians to do the right thing for the people are well and truly over. Our country has been raped and pillaged by successive politicians and their mates both here and offshore and we Maori are standing here with egg on our face and no better off. We have serious issues to contend with when our unemployed numbers are consistently so high and fewer than 4% reach the age of 60. That is a indictment upon those in charge of Maoridom at all levels and no excuses other than a Koretake effort by all leaders can be claimed.