Post by kokonutwoman on Sept 8, 2008 8:46:36 GMT 12
Emissions scheme 'threat to iwi assets'
By KIM THOMAS - The Press | Saturday, 06 September 2008
The Government risks sparking another round of Treaty of Waitangi grievances by refusing to acknowledge the impact of the Kyoto Protocol on iwi assets, Ngai Tahu says.
Ngai Tahu this week filed a last-minute treaty claim to "safeguard" the iwi's future, saying Government plans, such as the emissions trading scheme (ETS), threatened to devalue its assets.
This week marked the deadline, imposed in 2006, for historical treaty claims.
Ngai Tahu says the ETS will cut tens of millions of dollars off the value of its forestry assets because it will increase the costs of converting land to dairying.
It claims the Government knew about the impact of the scheme when it negotiated the sale of the forestry land to the iwi in 2001.
The Government has appointed an independent reviewer to investigate what it knew about the effects of the Kyoto Protocol at the time of the land sale, but this has not appeased Ngai Tahu.
"While the Government may have appointed an independent reviewer to investigate the effects of the Kyoto Protocol on the Ngai Tahu settlement, it does not address the issue that the Crown is prepared to undermine Treaty of Waitangi settlements," Ngai Tahu chairman Mark Solomon said.
"We have been asking for some action from the Government for months over this issue, and at the 11th hour they will look into our situation, but this review won't change the fact that the Crown is once again prepared to ride roughshod over Maori interests."
Solomon said no-one wanted another round of treaty grievances, but the Government's actions risked this.
"While we appreciate that treaty settlements bear the risk that policy will change, what Ngai Tahu cannot accept is that the Crown can mislead us at the time we buy the assets," he said.
Ngai Tahu wanted the Government to return to negotiations and talk about the impact of the ETS on its pre-1990 forest deals.
"They (the forestry settlements) are a special case and need to be considered as that," Solomon said.
A spokesman for Treaty Negotiations Minister Michael Cullen said the Government had given Ngai Tahu an undertaking it would hold an independent investigation into what was known about the impact of the emissions scheme at the time of the Ngai Tahu land sale.
"We don't believe there will be evidence the Crown knew more, but we will do that review and share it with them," he said.
The spokesman said that until evidence was found that showed the Government had not acted in good faith, it was not prepared to do anything further.
The Government was still in negotiations with Ngai Tahu pending the independent review, the spokesman said.
