This brilliant annual report from the Salvation Army contains a comprehensive overview of social-economic data on issues such housing, income, penal policy, children and youth, Maori wellbeing, social hazards (eg drugs). Ideal for local justice group planning its agenda. To access click here.
Month: March 2024 (page 1 of 1)
The Governments Fast-track and fresh water Proposals
A paper by Marinie Prickett (University of Otago) and Dr Mike Joy (VUW) on these key issues with suggestions for response. Letter follows:
Briefing on the new Government’s environmental law proposals and the serious threat they pose to freshwater
Kia ora koutou,
We are writing to you with important information on the Government’s proposals to rewrite environmental law and remove protections for freshwater. We do so because there has been very little public discussion or media coverage of the proposals, and the Government is moving swiftly. Furthermore, information provided by the Government has not been shared with all those with working on or interested in freshwater.
The latest information provided by the Government (in a letter to an unclear list of stakeholders from Minister for Resource Management Act Reform Chris Bishop sent on Wednesday last week) suggests a very short timeframe for feedback on proposed changes – two weeks. So, along with providing a briefing on the proposals, we also make two suggestions for useful and effective actions you and/or your organisation can take right now.
- Write to the Minister Hon Chris Bishop, Minister for RMA Reform, Chris.Bishop@parliament.govt.nz
- Inform others
More details on these actions in the last section of this letter.
You are receiving this letter because at some time in the past decade either Mike and/or Marnie has had contact with you over your concern for freshwater.
The strength of many public voices on freshwater issues has successfully achieved change in the past and we believe it could have a positive effect again if we react to these proposals in a timely way.
The new Government’s proposals for freshwater and related policy
Overarching resource management law
The coalition Government outlined in its coalition agreement documents its intention to severely weaken environmental protections and their associated human health protections beginning with overarching resource management law.
At the end of last year, under urgency, the new Natural and Built Environment Act 2023 and Spatial Planning Act 2023 were repealed.
The new Government now intends to reform the Resource Management Act 1991, having committed in its coalition agreements to replace it “with new resource management laws premised on the enjoyment of property rights as a guiding principle” (National – ACT coalition agreement, p. 6).
Fast-track Minister-controlled consent process and irrigation projects
“I am proposing a new bill which draws on the previous fast-track regimes and that will reflect the following:
• The new fast-track process will be contained in a standalone Act with its own
purpose statement.
• Locally, regionally and nationally significant infrastructure and development projects will be prioritised.
• There will be a process for the responsible minister to refer projects for acceptance
into the fast-track process, and the bill will also contain a list of projects that will be
first to have their approvals granted.
• Referred projects will go to an Expert Panel, which will have limited ability to decline a project once referred and will apply any necessary conditions to ensure adverse effects of the project are managed.”
What this means in practice is that the Government will produce a list of projects that will by-pass normal democratic processes, with likely little to no formal avenue for tangata whenua and wider public input or opposition. A number of these projects are likely to be large-scale irrigation schemes, based on the coalition agreements’ commitments to increasing water storage.
A ‘standalone Act with its own purpose’ means the Government is intending that these fast-tracked projects would avoid having to be consistent with the purpose of the Resource Management Act, which is (among other things) “safeguarding the life-supporting capacity of air, water, soil, and ecosystems”. The ‘standalone Act” for fast-track projects is likely to have as its purpose “increasing productivity” or something related. If this is allowed to progress, projects are very likely to be given the go ahead with little or no environmental consideration.
National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020
In the short term, the Government first intends to (though it is not entirely clear how) disapply Te Mana o te Wai from the fast-track consents. In the medium term, the Government has said it intends to replace it the NPS-FM 2020 (signalled in the coalition agreements) and has particularly emphasised that they will either remove or “rebalance” Te Mana o te Wai. They have said this process of replacing the NPS-FM is expected to take 18 to 24 months.
Rebalancing Te Mana o te Wai would have the same effect as removing it. Te Mana o te Wai is the central decision-making framework that, along with its principles, establishes a “hierarchy of obligations” requiring councils to prioritise the health of waterways and people’s drinking water over commercial interests.
It has been beginning to have effect in consenting, with a consent application for over 8 billion litres of water per year turned down in Hawke’s Bay last year on the basis of Te Mana o te Wai. The commissioners at the time noted in their decision that, in previous versions of the NPS-FM, “no strong weighting was given to the protection of freshwater values versus its use and development”.
We have further concerns for the National Objectives Framework, the part of the NPS-FM that establishes bottom lines for contaminants in waterbodies. Indications from Government suggest that they would like to remove or weaken these on the basis that “local communities get the opportunity to customise and to have nuanced processes in place that ensure that at a community level they can be making decisions that are appropriate for that community”. This emphasis on community and “catchment-level” decision-making would be unnecessary if you intended to keep the National Objectives Framework as it is because community involvement and catchment-scale management are already how the NPS-FM functions. What this narrative suggests is wanting to remove bottom lines to allow the most well-resourced in society to pressure councils for whatever level of pollution works for their commercial interests.
The risks to human and ecological health of these proposals
For most, the risks of these proposals will be clear. However, we provide a brief outline here that highlights issues at a high level and is not exhaustive. The associated threats to equity, biodiversity, resilience to and mitigation of climate impacts, democratic process, etc. should be inferred.
The elevation of the enjoyment of property rights in resource management is very concerning as the health and wellbeing of communities and the natural environment simply cannot be protected on this basis. Resource management is applied, by necessity, across properties and public land to ensure that people and the environment avoid acute and cumulative impacts from individuals, businesses, or other agencies.
Fast-track consenting that facilitates irrigation schemes, particularly when they are not subject to any resource management law, bottom lines, or public scrutiny, will undoubtedly mean further intensification of agricultural systems and land use. This will mean more pollution to waterbodies and less water in waterways. Irrigation schemes have had extreme impacts on water quality and people’s drinking water sources in parts of the country, particularly Canterbury. Dams themselves also impact the health of waterbodies.
Removing or “rebalancing” Te Mana o te Wai will mean a return to the prioritisation or dominance of commercial interests over the public needs for a healthy environment and safe drinking water. There is ample evidence in of the health of drinking water sources and even minimal ecological health considerations being overridden in favour of intensification of land use. Without the Te Mana o te Wai legal weight given to drinking water and ecological health, commercial interests can use their resources to stay in planning processes as long as they need to achieve the outcomes they want at regional level.
What to do right now
Write to the Minister
The Government has suggested they will only allow an extremely short time frame for feedback on the fast-track consenting. The letter from Chris Bishop states:
“Details of the fast-track consenting regime and NPS-FM changes will be worked through over the next month, and your input into this process would be appreciated.
My officials will be in touch to seek a meeting with you to discuss the proposals and understand your perspective.
All feedback provided by the 12 February 2024 will inform the new [fast-track consent] bill to be introduced to Parliament in early March.”
Given this pace of decision-making, the most important action you and/or your organisation could take now is to write to the Minister to state your opposition to the Fast-track consent Bill and to replacing the NPS-FM 2020, removing or “rebalancing” Te Mana o te Wai.
Hon Chris Bishop, Minister for RMA Reform, Chris.Bishop@parliament.govt.nz
Informing others
A second and ongoing important thing you can do is to inform others of these proposals and the threats they pose to waterways and communities. As we noted at the beginning of this letter, these proposals are not widely known.
- Feel free to forward to letter to any one you wish.
- Speak to your organisation and professional networks.
- Encourage others to write to the Minister too as soon as possible.
· Write an opinion piece or letter for a newspaper or industry publication to inform others.
Thank you
Thank you for reading this letter and for the time you take to stand up against the unravelling of environmental law and freshwater protection.
We have made progress in the past and we can again if there is enough strength shown from those outside parliament.
If you have any questions or thoughts, please contact us.
Ngā mihi nui,
Mike Joy and Marnie Prickett
Faith & Belief – Te Patapātai Whakapono (faithandbeliefstudynz.org)
This is the latest WF report on attitudes on faith and belief from a survey of 1009 New Zealanders. Few are church members so here are views of the community at large. Some are surprisingly hopeful and suggest areas for church outreach.
To access click on title above to open.
A detailed analysis by Charles Waldegrave of the risks to Te tiriti posed by the coalition government and linked to Luke 4.18.
Today is the closest Sunday to Waitangi Day this year. A new Coalition government has won a fair election, but it is about to roll back substantial Treaty-based developments, which they claim will strengthen the principles of liberal democracy, equal citizenship, and parliamentary sovereignty. This is highly controversial and is already the primary focus of debate at
Waitangi.
To ensure we are dealing with the facts, I refer to the two Coalition Agreements. These are quotations that relate directly to the implementation of the Treaty of Waitangi in policy and law.
Coalition Agreement New Zealand National Party & New Zealand First (signed by the Prime Minister and Rt. Hon. Winston Peters – extracts)
- Abolish the Māori Health Authority.
- Legislate to make English an official language of New Zealand.
- Ensure all public service departments have their primary name in English, except for those specifically related to Maori.
- Require the public service departments and Crown Entities to communicate primarily in English except those entities specifically related to Maori.
- The Coalition Government will reverse measures taken in recent years which have eroded the principle of equal citizenship, specifically we will:
- Remove co-governance from the delivery of public services.
- As a matter of urgency, issue a Cabinet Office circular to all central
- government organisations that it is the Government’s expectation that public services should be prioritised on the basis of need, not race.
- Conduct a comprehensive review of all legislation ….. that includes ‘The Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi’ and replace all such references with specific words relating to the relevance and application of the Treaty, or repeal the references.
New Zealand National Party & ACT New Zealand (signed by the Prime Minister and Hon. David Seymour – extracts)
- The Coalition Government’s priorities for this term include ending race -based policies.
- Disestablish the Māori Health Authority.
Strengthening Democracy
To uphold the principles of liberal democracy, including equal citizenship and parliamentary sovereignty, the Parties will:
- Remove co-governance from the delivery of public services.
- Issue a Cabinet Office circular to all central government organisations that it is the Government’s expectation that public services should be prioritised on the basis of need, not race, within the first six months of Government.
- Restore the right to local referendum on the establishment or ongoing use of Māori wards, including requiring a referendum on any wards established without referendum at the next local body elections.
- Introduce a Treaty Principles Bill based on existing ACT policy and support it to a Select Committee as soon as practicable
This is a historic time in Aotearoa. To put this in perspective, I want to highlight four matters that I think there is a general agreement about in New Zealand. These are:
- Firstly, that the British colonised New Zealand primarily to extend their empire and take advantage of the resources of the land, sea, and forests.
- Secondly, in doing so, Māori were largely dispossessed of their land and other resources, frequently through dishonourable processes, including land confiscations, and unjustifiable land purchases that were deemed legal by the governments and courts of the day.
- Thirdly, Māori have consistently sought justice through Te Tiriti o Waitangi, signed by the Crown and the majority of Māori chiefs in 1840, by identifying the widespread injustices they have experienced in both law and practice since the colonisation of New Zealand, and pointed to the resulting negative outcomes in terms of health status, education, and economic resources, they experience.
- And fourthly, Te Tiriti o Waitangi is the founding document of the modern nation of Aotearoa New Zealand, and its increasing influence to help us redress (at least in part) some of the wrongs of the past and place us on a fairer path to share our future together, is a valuable and important development.
Well, that valuable and important development is being challenged, not by a bunch of protesters, but by our government, the highest lawmakers in this land. They have a majority in our Parliament and they have already signed up to those agreements I read earlier. They have agreed to interfere with the treaty-inspired momentum and reverse it, at least in part.
This has occurred without consultation with Māori who have worked for nearly 125 years to achieve the momentum for their own justice, as the critical gatherings at Ngāruawāhia, Rātana, and Waitangi have, and are, continuing to show.
Our gospel today says:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” (Luke 4.18)
This is not a minor saying in Luke’s Gospel. This is the announcement by our Lord to his people of his ministry. It is his statement of what his anointing by the Holy Spirit is about. So, it is important for us to understand what this means for us in our lives at this time in this country. I would like to put before you four questions concerning the partnership agreement of the Treaty of Waitangi that I think are relevant to this passage:
- He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. Which of Māori and tauiwi (not Māori) experience the most poverty, and who is poor in relation to the other?
- He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners. Who are the most arrested, most charged, and most incarcerated of those two groups, Māori and tauiwi?
- Recovery of sight for the blind. Who has the worst health outcomes of those two groups?
- To set the oppressed free. Which group has fewer choices, fewer resources, and greater restrictions on their lives?
Now, if your answer to the four questions is ‘Māori’, then the good news of freedom, Jesus speaks of, is for processes and momentum that work for them to ensure they move out of poverty, experience lower incarceration rates, better health status, and gain a fairer share of New Zealand’s resources.
And if you further accept that the increasing influence of Te Tiriti o Waitangi helps us redress (at least in part) some of the wrongs of the past, and places us on a fairer path to share our future together, then that momentum may well be part of the work of the Holy Spirit in the world that brings good news and freedom.
Further still, if you see these recent political developments as potentially threatening that good news and freedom, then the important question to ask is, ‘what can I do as a Christian and a citizen in this democracy to help stop the reversal of this momentum?’
From an applied theological perspective, what is going on in the law and policy-making process in our parliament at the moment is relevant to us as contemporary Christians. We need to consider what we can do as individuals, with groups and as a church to support that which will enable an honouring of the Treaty, by addressing the wrongs of the past and ensuring that the health, housing, educational, and income outcomes will be at least as good for Māori as for all other groups in our society.
We have heard read today part of the great story of Wiremu Tāmihana Tarapīpipi Te Waharoa. He worked tirelessly to see the Treaty honoured through having a major role in the development of the King Movement, advocating for his people with military and political leaders, and writing and petitioning frequently. He knew it would be a long battle. As we heard, his last words in 1866 were, ‘My children, I die, but let my words remain. Obey the laws of God and man.”
As with so many Māori, he saw the Treaty as Covenant, Te Kawenata. It is often referred to as ‘Te Kawenata’ in Māoridom. I was going to speak of the Treaty as Covenant for this sermon, and I will one day, but on this occasion it has taken a different shape. I only have time to finish by noting that ‘kawenata’ refers to the covenant between God and Israel in the Old Testament. It also refers to the Old Testament as ‘Kawenata tawhito’ when translated into Māori, and the New Testament as ‘Kawenata hou’. It carries a sense of tapu or sacredness that is often missing in English descriptions.
There is a lot at stake with Te Tiriti o Waitangi. This is definitely a time when we should all think long and hard about it. There will be differing views, but I suspect many will not want to see the Treaty momentum diluted or reversed even in part. Thinking long and hard goes beyond intellectual reflection. Consider whether you want to join with others to act on your reflections. It is, after all, your democratic right.
Charles Waldegrave
Homily at the memorial service for Bishop Bruce Gilberd
St George’s church, Thames
19 January 2024
Bishop Richard Randerson
It was a hot December night 29 years ago in Goulburn cathedral. It was the occasion of my episcopal ordination and I was very grateful that Bruce had agreed to be the preacher that night. And so it is with a sense of reciprocity and humbleness that I have been asked to preach today on this very different occasion.
I have known Bruce for 62 years from St John’s College days, through shared years in industrial mission in England and Aotearoa, and with lives interwoven ever since.
How many have his book One Thought for Today? – very many I see. The book has 365 daily reflections, and I see it as a compendium of all Bruce has been:
- Daily reference to scripture
- Earthed in the many events of his life and relationships
- Vocation and pilgrimage
- A challenging question and a prayer
- All woven together so that the watermarks of faith are seen in daily living. Bruce liked to talk of divine watermarks in life.
Revelation 21 1-7 The text Bruce chose for today.
- A new heaven and a new earth
- Note the location. The holy city coming down from heaven It is here. God dwells with us.
- I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Note that the end means goal or purpose, telos, not a terminus, destruction or death. Death shall be no more.
Footnotes refer back to Isaiah. The prophet writes:
- They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning-hooks
- Isa 65: New heaven and earth where people will live long lives
- They shall build houses and live in them
- They shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit
- They shall not bear children for calamity – a poignant note when we think today of Gaza, Ukraine and other places.
So our mission and discipleship is to build the new heaven and a new earth with the watermarks of faith, justice, peace, truth, compassion and being kaitiaki of all creation.
Rev 21.7: Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children. These are words of aspiration and promise to Jesus’ disciples.
- Resurrection: Bruce wanted us to be clear on this and we can do no better than reflect on the life-changing encounters the disciples had with the risen Jesus:
- That first morning at the tomb when Jesus said to Mary Magdalene “Mary” and she replied “Rabboni’ – teacher
- Then Thomas who came to the locked room with the disciples and seeing Jesus’ wounds said “My Lord and my God”
- The disciples on the Emmaus road whose heart burned within them as a stranger explained the scriptures to them and became known to them in the breaking of the bread.
- The BBQ breakfast on the beach and it was John who first saw the stranger and said It is the Lord. Peter jumped in the water and went ashore while Jesus cooked some of the 153 fish they had caught. I’m sure Bruce could have explained the 153 fish to us.
On these encounters the Church was built and we know resurrection to be a reality in our own lives today, in the midst of joy and sorrow Jesus comes to us as our constant companion, offering renewed life and hope out of sorrow and loss – not quickly, not easily, but assuredly.
Our hearts reach out today Pat at this time. 60 years married to Bruce. A long life of love and partnership. And also to Catherine and James, Stephen and Michelle, Paul and Jo and the mokopuna Zachary, Lily and Charlie.
May you be sustained by God’s continuing presence and healing love, and know that Bruce remains with you still, and with us all, in the communion of saints.
Henry Nelson Wieman wrote of life after death as hope without prediction. We cannot predict the details of what lies beyond death, but we have hope in the full Christian sense of confidence that in life and in death we are with God.
Into your hands, O Lord, I commit my Spirit. Bruce and I shared Jesus’ words from the Cross a couple of weeks ago. I use them every night before sleeping. They are words of trust and confidence that God is with us in life and in death and beyond death, words we can use daily and finally.
So Bruce, go from us in peace but remain with us still.
Haere, haere, haere atu ra.
May you rest in peace, and may that peace sustain us all.