Agreement of Maoris on Motunui ‘historic’

Press, 23 April 1983, Page 1

Agreement of Maoris on Motunui ‘historic’

PA 1 Wellington Labour’s four Maori members of Parliament yesterday agreed to vote with the Government in Parliament on the Motunui outfall issue, if proposed special legislation gives the Atiawa people what they want.

The Prime Minister, Mr Muldoon, hailed the agree-

ment as a historic occasion, but the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Lange, said it was a complete rout for the Government.

The Atiawa people want effluent from the synthetic petrol plant at Motunui routed to Waitara for treatment and dispersal at sea. They strenuously oppose present proposals to pipe the effluent into the sea, at Motunui, containing . their traditional seafood beds. One of the Maori members, Mr K. T. Wetere, said they had agreed to the Prime Minister’s demand for their support on the special legislation, but.'with a qualifications. “We are saying that provided the legislation enshrines the principles of Te Atiawa proposals, we will support it,” said Mr Wetere. Mr Muldoon said that the

four Labour Maori;: members — Mr Wetere, Dr P. W. Tapsell, Dr B. C. Gregory, and Mrs Whetu TirikateneSultivan - gave assurances s Massas outfall water'fight. Mr Muldoon said, the only secure water right the Government had ' was at Mo-

tunui, and it would not give that up unless the Waitara. water right, which expires this year, was continued. “Mr Wetere and Dr Gregory came to me yesterday to say that the four Maori members will vote, for a bill to give the petrol plant long-term water rights to put effluent, after treatment, into the sea at Waitara rather than Motunui,” he said. “The agreement means we can move now to do that and not be in breach of our agreement with the banks who are financing the Motunui plant”. The agreement with the banks was that the Government had to have all necessary authorities to build and

run the plant, which included a water right to

discharge waste. Mr Muldoon said he was not sure whether the bill could be brought into Parliament before the

House rose at the end of the Address-in-Reply debate, but was sure it could be passed this session. Support from the Government caucus could not be guaranteed, he said. "Mr M. J. Minogue (Hamilton West) has set his face against this type of legislation. Last year we had two members who would support the Clyde dam legislation only because of the prospect of the loss of a large number of jobs. With four Maori members committed to supporting the bill, I anr sure I have enough in the Government caucus who will support it to pass it,” Mr Muldoon said.

He was sure the four would not renege on their assurances. “These are Maori mem? bers. All of these Maori members have a very close feeling for Maoritanga,” Mr Lange said that there would be no pre-emptive agreement with the Government over the Motunui legislation. The Government should introduce the legislation and let Parliament decide.. Later, he said that Mr Muldoon was trying to conjure up an acceptable face for what was a total reversal. Calling the assurance a triumph was much the same as declaring Pearl Harbour a magnificent victory for American naval strategy. The Government had undertaken to introduce legislation which protected the marine environment, the heritage of Te Atiawa, and provided a means of effluent disposal: He said that was what Labour had been arguing for. “We will support legislation which advances our declared policy,” said Mr Lange.

If the legislation was what Labour wanted, it would be an astonishing reversal of the Government’s attitude.

“We now have the whiphand, If they do not produce legislation in accordance with the principles we are exposing they are down the tubes. How can the Government walk into that and call it a triumph?" he said. Mr Lange said that if the legislation did not deliver the protections Te Atiawa people had fought for, not one Labour Maori member would vote for it The Mana Motuhake leader, Mr Matiu Rata, said the Motunui outfall decision “must restore any lost confidence about the future role of the Waitangi Tribunal.” He congratulated Te Atiawa people for their tireless efforts in “reversing” the Government’s earlier decision. Mr Rata, who as Minister of Maori Affairs introduced, the Waitangi Tribunal legislation, urged Maori people to use the tribunal. He said he hoped Parliament would further strengthen the tribunal’s ability “to deal with these issues.”