Senior minister Tama Potaka is celebrating the impending defeat of Act’s controversial Treaty Principles Bill after a Parliamentary committee advised against the policy and National and NZ First are set to vote the bill down.

It came after NZ First minister Shane Jones told Māori leaders they needed to make “trade-offs” for economic growth and to address steep energy prices before hinting at a major upcoming geothermal announcement.

The developments at the Federation of Māori Authorities Business Summit in Hamilton today put the spotlight once again on the frayed Māori-Crown relationship.

At the same time, news broke in Wellington that the overwhelming number of submissions on the Treaty Principles Bill were in opposition, and the Justice Select Committee recommended the policy not proceed.

The bill is now set to return to the House for its second reading, where Act’s coalition partners, National and NZ First, have stressed they will vote it down.

“Thank goodness that is coming to cremation day,” Potaka, the Māori Development Minister, said.

“Nehu (burial) day is coming, folks. Nehu day is coming for the Treaty Principles Bill. Can’t wait to see that nehu day.”

Jones referred to the bill as “wretched”. The Regional Development Minister spent much of his address urging Māori landowners to accept there needs to be “trade-offs” for economic development amid fears the Government’s thirst for growth will come at the price of Treaty rights and the environment.

“Your nephews, your brothers and sisters, my nieces, our relations” risk losing their jobs and moving to Australia because “New Zealand has become too expensive to do business in”, he said.

“I sort of feel I am the only Māori politician of my generation that has been willing to put it all on the line in terms of the trade-offs you have to make.

“So, I say to you, who are business-focused, economic kaitiaki (guardians), we’ve got to make trade-offs. And if you are not comfortable making them, subject to election outcomes, know that I am going to make them on your behalf. And if you don’t like them, then meet me at the ballot box.”

He said the Government’s $60 million investment to explore geothermal energy should be of interest to Māori landowners, adding that how they responded to the challenges and trade-offs was up to them.

“If you find it too risky to tap into the geo(thermal) on your own whenua (land), I don’t want to make that decision for you but if there is a bald-head owner with a farm next door, I’m going to him rather than sitting around arguing with you all day because the cost of energy is so crippling in New Zealand we can no longer allow our Māori-Pakeha debates to cripple our economy.”

Jones alluded to a “major announcement” coming up that would turn New Zealand into “geothermal central” in the coming years, including “probably taking the authority for geothermal off the regional council and restoring it back to the Crown”.

“That, however, represents a part of my upcoming manifesto.”

NZ First MP Shane Jones during his speech at Rātana Pā near Whanganui in January. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Jones also addressed water ownership, following questions from people in the crowd seeking clarity on who held authority. An unprecedented case — Ngāi Tahu is suing the Crown in a bid to share control of water management in its tribal area — is in the High Court.

This case is not about the ownership of water but turning the concept of rangatiratanga — guaranteed under the Treaty of Waitangi — into an enforceable legal right.

“For as long as Shane Jones is around in politics, I will never agree that tangata whenua own water.

“Where I think our debate should go is not into an insoluble issue (of) who owns the rain (but) on what basis are rights allocated to use the water we have by dint of mother nature.”

Jones said he did not think there was enough support from the New Zealand public to solve the issue.

“I am pleading with you, unless you see a different political future than I see … I do not see a large enough constituency in New Zealand, and I don’t even see it on the left wing of politics to deal with — are there exclusive ownership rights to the water? Maybe a new generation of politicians will solve that issue.”

Annette Sykes

Among the leaders watching Jones’ speech was Treaty lawyer Annette Sykes, who proposed an alternative to Jones’ pathway forward for Māori development.

“To listen to Mr Jones’ this morning, it was disappointing because he was trying to say he as a politician will determine the rangatiratanga of Māori land and that will never happen because kawanatanga (the Government) was never created to subsume us within the constraints of a capitalist model that wasn’t developed in this land.”

Sykes said Māori had an obligation to protect the environment for future generations and ensuring longevity and survival amid climate change was going to require “genius.”

“If we are just going to continue to measure ourselves against performance measures of capitalist gain, we actually, I think, overlook the most fundamental thing.

“We are the ones that are the barriers or the preventers of climate change exploitation to ensure that we survive. We are the people who are the tourism operators that will actually make this (country) attractive to international visitors. We are the genius that are emerging.”

Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.