A co-governance agreement between local Tūrangi hapū and the Taupō District Council signed at the weekend is a ground-breaking moment for the community, an iwi spokesperson says.
Taupō District Council and Ngāti Turangitukua hapū signed the Mana Whakahono ā Rohe agreement on Saturday afternoon.
It covers Resource Management Act (RMA), Local Government Act and Reserves Act matters and was agreed between the parties after extensive discussion and negotiation.
It will be implemented by a co-governance committee equally made up of Ngāti Tūrangitukua and council appointees.
Tina Porou, Ngāti Turangitukua spokesperson, says the deal is an opportunity for growth, and acknowledges the community of Tūrangi.
Ngāti Tūrangitukua is the Ngāti Tūwharetoa hapū that holds mana whenua over Tūrangi township.
“It enables us to co-manage and co-govern our reserves in the town. To me that’s really ground-breaking and it's a place where all of the community could participate in those decisions,” Porou told Breakfast on Tuesday.
“It reflects the importance of mana whenua, and the whānau who have lived in this rohe for 1000 years, but it also acknowledges and respects our community who have joined us.”
Co-governance with Māori has been a point of contention in the past few months, with ACT Party campaigning for a referendum on the issue.
The party’s leader, David Seymour, in March said it would be a bottom line if forming a Government with National. Seymour believes the Treaty of Waitangi was not a partnership and therefore co-governance arrangements should not be viewed as a necessary extension of that.
READ MORE: Willie Jackson: Co-governance a chance at equity for Māori
But Porou has a different stance. She says the sky “is not going to fall” just because there are “great Treaty partnerships around the table”.
“For me co-governance is the opportunity to share in the decisions that impact all our communities.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do but it creates a platform for us to share in all the decisions in our town, to disestablish the Tūrangi community board and replace it with a co-governance committee made up of half of our hapū and half of the council."
Taupō Mayor David Trewavas said the council have embraced it.
"What a wonderful day it was on Saturday to sign this agreement, it just absolutely makes sense for Tūrangi going forward."
Co-governance sees the right to making decisions over natural resources shared between central and/or local governments, and other groups, often iwi. It's an arrangement intended to ensure the community is represented and given an opportunity to participate directly in the management of a particular resource within their area.
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