Waitangi Tribunal Interim Decision On Water

Ms Donna Hall, solicitor for the New Zealand Maori Council, is pleased to announce that the key points of the Waitangi Tribunal decision released this afternoon are as follows:

• The Waitangi Tribunal has recommended that the Crown not go ahead with its proposed partial privatisation of power generating SOE until the Tribunal has at least had a chance to issue its full decision on stage one of this Inquiry;

• That full decision is due in September this year;

• The September decision will also address the issue of whether a delay in the share sale should be recommended on a slightly longer term basis;

• This decision is therefore very much only an interim one;

• The Tribunal has found that the issue of Maori proprietary interests to water resources is a serious issue that needs to be resolved;

• The Tribunal further held that a delay until September would not cause significant prejudice to the Governments policy;

• There is no guarantee that this decision will be followed by a further recommendation of a delay in September;

• The New Zealand Maori Council is very happy with this decision.

The full decision is attached

http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1207/Wai_2358_2.7.2.pdf

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Metservice: Where Will Snow Fall And What To Look Out For

The deep Antarctic air that is expected to sweep across the country this week is bringing very significant weather to many provinces.Here's the official MetService view of the key weather concerns for the country.

MetService Media and Communications Meteorologist Dan Corbett commented,"While snow will be a major issue for those in the South Island, wind and hail will affect many North Island districts."

Snow is expected to fall to sea level, or very near it, from Southland to South Canterbury from late Wednesday into Thursday and Friday. The snow level is expected to rise to 200m from about Christchurch northwards... More>>