A claim the new Minister of Conservation is an "activist" who will put iwi interests ahead of the environment has been rubbished by a Māori leader.
Photo: 123RF
West Coast Conservation Board member Neil Silverwood made the comments this week after meeting the minister, Kiritapu Allan, saying she was set to put iwi economic development ahead of conservation.
Allan, who took over the portfolio after the election, has ignored the comments, saying instead she looked forward to working with West Coast conservation stakeholders.
The minister has been caught up in an ongoing dispute within the conservation board, involving its Ngāi Tahu members, which led to the resignation of board chairman Keith Morfett the week before the minister's visit.
One Ngāi Tahu member said Silverwood's claims were so wide of the mark that any reconciliation between them and other board members now appeared unlikely, with Ngāti Waewae chair Francois Tumahai suggesting Allan should sack the board.
"The minister might as well retire us all now and start afresh," Tumahai said.
The three Ngāi Tahu members have been boycotting meetings for months, claiming the board is stacked with "extreme" conservationists who do not respect the iwi's pre-eminent role as kaitiaki on the West Coast.
The board met the minister for the first time last week in Hokitika, following Dr Morfett's sudden resignation.
"We asked if we could have a chat to discuss some of the problems we've been having, and she did bring the iwi reps back to the table, but what she had to say was extremely troubling," Silverwood said.
He believed what the minister had to say had "disturbing implications" for national parks and wilderness areas.
"We told her there was confusion over Section 4 of the Conservation Act, which says we must give effect to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and what that means in terms of who has the ultimate say over land use in the parks, for instance.
"Is it DOC [Department of Conservation] or is it now iwi?"
Silverwood said Allan told the board there was nothing confusing about that part of the Act.
"The minister said it was extremely clear. We have to put the economic aspirations of iwi first when we consider how land is managed.
"So she's basically putting Section 4 ahead of everything else in the Act that sets out to protect public conservation land. We now have an activist for a minister."
He said that put board members in an untenable position.
Silverwood also raised concerns over what he believes are conflicts of interest for Ngāi Tahu.
"As a conservation board, we have to review national park management as an independent body to make sure DOC is complying with the higher-level conservation management strategy.
"But here we have Ngāi Tahu, a major tourism operator, co-writing the park plan in partnership with DOC and sitting on the watchdog board as well, expecting it to fall into line with its commercial aspirations. There's a major conflict of interest here."
Silverwood said that conflict had led to the recent High Court challenge by Forest and Bird and Federated Mountain Clubs to the Paparoa National Park management plan.
"Basically, the plan co-written by Ngāi Tahu allows recreational aircraft landings in the park, and the region's conservation management strategy does not."
Silverwood said that if the new conservation minister was going to allow iwi aspirations to override the intentions of the Conservation Act she administered, he and other board members would probably resign.
Allan did not respond directly to the points raised by Silverwood.
However, Tumahai said the minister might as well sack the board.
"I don't think she has much choice but to start over with a new board."
He said Ngāi Tahu members had hoped to mend the rift but after Silverwood's comments a reconciliation looked impossible.
"... she [Allan] was slammed with all this Section 4 stuff the moment she sat down... she could see where it was heading.
"We were prepared to work things through with a minister who understands economic development and the environment and I really thought we could get it back on track but after this it's hard to see how."
Calling the minister an activist, and suggesting Ngāi Tahu had a conflict of interest, was "crazy stuff", Tumahai said.
The minister told Local Democracy Reporting the meeting was "simply a meet and greet".
"I was on the West Coast for a visit to observe some predator-free projects and announce Jobs for Nature funding, and took the opportunity to meet a number of stakeholders, including the board while I was there," she said.
The meeting was to discuss conservation issues in the area and outline her portfolio priorities.
"With respect to Section 4 specifically, as was held by the Supreme Court in the Ngāi Tai ki Tamaki decision in 2018, the Conservation Act requires DOC to give effect to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.
"In April 2019 the then Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage asked DOC to consider ways it can improve delivery of its Section 4 responsibilities across all levels of its work. I intend to carry on this work."
Local Democracy Reporting is a public interest news service supported by RNZ, the News Publishers' Association and NZ On Air.