Hon Parekura Horomia
Minister for Maori Affairs

4 September 2008 Media Statement

Crown and Ngati Maniapoto Initial Waipa River Co-Management Agreement

“Ngati Maniapoto and the Crown today initialled an agreement that provides for co-management arrangements for the Waipa River.” Minister of Maori Affairs, Parekura Horomia, said today.

Since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in1840 there has been almost no recognition of the importance of iwi engagement in the effective management of the Waikato River system.

The agreement we signed today with the Maniapoto Maori Trust Board will provide a permanent and integral role for Ngati Maniapoto in the governance and management of the Waipa River, the largest tributary of our largest river.

Crown acknowledgements in the agreement will include recognition of the impact of pollution on traditional fisheries associated with the Waipa and the impact this had had on the relationship between the iwi and the river

This agreement will result in major steps towards restoring the health and the well being of the Waipa.

Because it is the largest tributary of the Waikato River and makes a very big contribution to the flow of the lower Waikato below Ngaruawahia, this agreement will also make a significant contribution to the restoration of the health and well being of the Waikato River.

This agreement will integrate the clean up effort for the Waipa with the long term project to restore the health and well being of the Waikato. It builds on the agreement in relation to the Waikato River that the Crown and Waikato Tainui signed last month.

As part of that agreement Ngati Maniapoto became a member of the establishment committee of the Guardians of the Waikato River and participated in the public consultation process carried out by the committee to develop a vision and strategy for the Waikato.
Ngati Maniapoto will also have a place on the statutory river board established to manage the lower Waikato under that agreement.

“I would like to congratulate Ngati Maniapoto on their ability to seize their chance to safeguard the Waipa River for the generations to come. Their decisiveness has delivered a result of which their members and their children will continue to be proud.”

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Kua Haina e te Karauna me Ngāti Maniapoto te Kirimana Whakahaere-ngātahi i te Awa o Waipā

I te rangi nei i waitohutia e Ngāti Maniapoto me te Karauna tētahi kirimana e whakarārangi ana i ngā whakaritenga whakahaere mō te Awa o Waipā,” i kī te Minita mō ngā Take Māori.

Mai i te hainatanga i Te Tiriti o Waitangi i te tau 1840, tata kore noaiho ngā tautokohanga ki te take whakahira o te whaiwāhitanga o iwi ki roto i ngā whakahaere hāngai o te pūnaha o Waikato Awa.

Ko te kirimana kua hainatia e mātou i te rangi nei ki te Poari Kaitiaki Māori o Maniapoto, koia nei ka whakawhiwhi tūranga motuhake, tino pūtake, mō Ngāti Maniapoto ki ngā whakahaere me ngā whakataunga mō te Awa o Waipā, te peka wehenga tino nui o tā tātou awa tino nui.

Ko ngā whakaaetanga a te Karauna e tāpiri ana kei roto i te kirimana, ko te whakamōhiotanga o te whakapātanga o te whakaparu ki ngā taunga ika Māori kei roto i te Waipā, me te whakapātanga o tēnei āhuatanga ki runga i te hononga a te iwi, me te awa.

Ko te mutunga mai i te kirimana nei, ko ngā mahi nui tonu ki te whakahoki i te hauora me te oranga o te Waipā.

I te mea koia nei te wehenga peka nui rawa atu o te Awa o Waikato, me tōna takoha nui rawa atu ki te rerenga wai o te wāhanga whakararo o te Awa o Waikato, ki raro iho o Ngāruawāhia, ka hangaia e tēnei kirimana tētahi takoha nui rawa atu anō, ki te whakahokinga mai o te hauora me te oranga o te Awa o Waikato.

Mā tēnei kirimana e whakakotahi i ngā mahinga whakamā mō te Waipā, ki te kaupapa mahi wā roa hei whakahoki i te hauora me te oranga o te Waikato. Ka hanga ki runga i te kirimana e pā ana ki te Awa o Waikato, i waitohutia e te Karauna me Waikato-Tainui i tērā marama.

Hei wāhanga o taua kirimana te urunga atu o Ngāti Maniapoto hei mema ki runga i te komiti i whakatūria o ngā Kaitiaki mō te Awa o Waikato, me te whaiwāhitanga ki ngā whakaritenga whakawhitiwhiti korero tūmatanui a te komiti ki te hanga i te matakite me te rautaki mō te Waikato.

Ka riro anō i a Ngāti Maniapoto he tūranga ki runga i te poari ā-ture a te awa ka whakatūria ki te whakahaere i te wāhanga whakararo o Waikato i raro i taua kirimana.

“Ka whakamihi ahau ki a Ngāti Maniapoto mō tā rātou kaha ki te hopu i tā rātou huarahi whaiwāhi ki te tiaki i te Awa o Waipā mō ngā reanga e piki mai ana.Ko tā rātou raukaha whakatau tere nei, nānā tēnei whakaotinga kia noho whakahīhī tonu a rātou mema, me a rātou tamariki.”

ENDS

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