THE PRESS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 1983. Waitangi voice in vain

Press, 30 March 1983, Page 12

THE PRESS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 1983. Waitangi voice in vain

The Government’s decision to disregard the recommendations of the Waitangi Tribunal, and to proceed with the proposed ocean outfall from the Motunui synthetic fuels plant, has been handled with insufficient tact. The tribunal can do no more than recommend a course of action and the Government is entitled to accept or ignore the tribunal’s advice as it wishes. That is not in dispute. In this instance, the Government’s decision might well be the right one. What gives cause for concern is the seemingly casual and almost off-hand manner with which the recommendations appear to have been rejected. The tribunal was created to consider the practical applications of the Treaty of Waitangi and any inconsistencies brought to the tribunal’s notice, and then to advise the Government accordingly. The Motunui project led to an application to the tribunal by Te Atiawa people of Taranaki, who fear that the outfall will endanger shellfish beds that are a traditional source of food. The case was the tribunal’s first of note and the outcome was awaited with interest as being probably the most important decision to draw formally on the treaty for more than a century. The tribunal recommended that the outfall should not proceed. The decision was a bombshell to the Government. The Prime

Minister, Mr Muldoon, and other Ministers, when asked for their reaction, said that it would take several weeks to digest the implications. Within days, however, the Government has announced that the outfall will be built and that tenders will be called immediately. No doubt, the Government and the country cannot afford the delays to the synthetic fuels plant that would result from accepting the tribunal’s recommendations. Nevertheless, .the Government again faces the charge that it is prepared to ride roughshod over anything that threatens to impede progress on one of its pet projects. The Government’s action will also have lowered the standing of the tribunal in the eyes of many Maoris; some will see it as a confirmation of their belief that the spirit of the treaty is a broken reed. Some Maori leaders have already expressed dismay that the tribunal’s recommendations have been set aside, and they are questioning the value and purpose of the tribunal. Widespread disenchantment with the tribunal among the Maori people would indeed render it valueless. Some reassurance from the Government that it values the tribunal’s contribution — and that inaction on its recommendations is not inevitable — would be appropriate.