Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu is taking the Crown to the High Court over proposed Conservation Act changes, claiming the plans are a threat to its Waitangi Treaty settlement.
Conservation Minister Tama Potaka proposed the changes in August to address a backlog of concession applications that he said "sometimes take years to process".
The changes included streamlining and centralising conservation land management, and a review of Section 4 of the Conservation Act, requiring the Department of Conservation (DOC) to give effect to the principles of the treaty.
Ngāi Tahu Kaiwhakahaere Justin Tipa told RNZ the proposal would shift decision-making from conservation boards and the Conservation Authority to the minister.
He said the Ngāi Tahu treaty settlement guaranteed the iwi representation in decision-makng and the proposal would lead to the privatisation of public conservation land.
"What they are proposing is that concessions may be granted up to 60 years for critical infrastructure and that essentially means that, on public conservation land, it's going to be privatised by stealth.
"It's alienating Māori, it's alienating Ngāi Tahu, it's alienating New Zealanders from the whenua."
Tipa said the iwi had been left with no other choice and taking action in the High Court was not a step taken lightly.
"That's the problem iwi are confronted with. Governments come and go, and they have no institutional memory of their commitment, so we are compelled to spend significant amounts of our settlements defending and protecting our settlements.
"Every time a new government comes into power, we are having to educate and re-educate on what our claims are, what they mean, how they work with legislation.
"At the end of the day, treaty settlements didn't appear our of thin air. They were the culmination of sustained legal political and social dialogue spanning decades."
Two-thirds of public conservation land sits within the Ngāi Tahu rohe and Tipa said vital contribution of localised knowledge would be lost.
"We always stand at the ready to engage with government departments, with ministers and ministries to help shape policy, and test thinking.
"Unfortunately, the advice we attempted to give fell on deaf ears and they went ahead with these proposals that would undermine the integrity of the Ngāi Tahu settlement."
Conservation Minister Tama Potaka told RNZ he had been advised Ngāi Tahu had taken the matter to court.
"Our Government remains focused on delivering clear, decisive conservation reform that strengthens biodiversity and provides greater certainty for communities," he said. "We are progressing this work diligently."
Potaka is an Associate Housing Minister (Social Housing), Minister for Māori Development, and Minister of Conservation. (Source: Q and A)
Tipa said the High Court action was only the first step and the iwi was determined to hold the Crown to the promises it made almost 30 years ago, when the Deed of Settlement was signed.
"I would like to see the changes scrapped, but if they don't, we stand ready to engage," he said.
"I don't have a lot of faith. I've seen this Government consistently overturn the rule of law.
"They don't listen to the majority of New Zealanders. There's a minority in this country that has a very large powerbase in this country and, unless we stand up and take action, I don't have a lot of faith in the future for Māori under this Government."
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