The Government acknowledged the significant work that went into developing PC1 and insisted that work wouldn\u2019t be \u201cwasted\u201d as there were intentions to require the new environment plan to have \u201cparticular regard\u201d to PC1. <\/p>\n
The PC1 provisions needed to be paused because they were \u201ccostly, complex and duplicative.\u201d Shane Jones, one of the ministers involved in the RMA reforms, said the \u201csupreme law-making power\u201d of Parliament superseded \u201cany Treaty of Waitangi settlement\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know Tainui iwi see Te Ture Whaimana as an important legal ingredient in the Waikato River mix. However, we cannot indulge appetites for expensive river regulations that worsen cost-of-living outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Waikato River. Photo \/ Mike Scott.<\/p>\n
Jones said he was concerned the PC1 provisions would add costs to farmers and growers which could be passed on to consumers. <\/p>\n
\u201cExcessive regulation that undermines production will reduce jobs, confidence and investment. <\/p>\n
\u201cWith a new RMA, river management options will improve without handicapping productivity.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the chair of Tainui, Tuku Morgan, is not convinced \u2013 he said using the cost-of-living to justify halting the PC1 provisions was \u201cbulls**t\u201d. He said farmers had received strong profit returns recently \u2013 and many farmers and corporates like Fonterra had contributed to the development of PC1. <\/p>\n
For Morgan \u2013 and the Tainui people \u2013 the Waikato River is everything. A paramount ancestor, a place of healing during times of hardship, a life source. There is no separation between a Tainui person and the river. <\/p>\n
But he and his children can no longer swim in the river his grandparents once used to. It is no longer safe to take food from a place that was once considered their pataka kai [food pantry]. Morgan said they cannot afford another six years of fewer protections over their river. <\/p>\n
That pause would lead to \u201cuncontrollable levels of nitrate\u201d and the \u201congoing degradation\u201d of the river, he said. (Jones says the biggest issue is the reproduction of koi carp in the river).<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter 14 years of work by iwi, farmers and growers, councils, industry, environmental and community groups, it is extraordinary that the Government would simply press pause now, when the process has reached its conclusion,\u201d Morgan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is bad enough now; imagine six years of not doing anything. The thought is too horrific to think about.\u201d <\/p>\n
Mount Taupiri, rising above the Waikato River, is considered an ancestor of Waikato-Tainui iwi. Photo \/ Mike Scott<\/p>\n
The Waikato Regional Council said PC1 was \u201cone of the most significant and complex planning processes undertaken in Waikato\u201d that had cost taxpayers $30 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope this unexpected development in the PC1 journey will not add more costs to those expenses incurred to date by all parties.\u201d <\/p>\n
Morgan said scientists had tested the river and classified it as a \u201cdegraded body of water\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is no wonder why we are deeply upset as we continue to watch the ongoing degradation by irresponsible, dirty farmers who don\u2019t give a toss about improving their practices.\u201d <\/p>\n
That cohort of \u201cdirty farmers\u201d was small, Morgan said. Most local farmers did care about their impact on the local river, and many were involved in the development of PC1. <\/p>\n
But those that did not respect the river needed a clear bottom line in the form of regulation to direct their farming practice. <\/p>\n
In 1995, Waikato-Tainui became the first iwi to settle their grievances with the Crown<\/a>, valued at $170 million under then National Prime Minister Jim Bolger. In 2010, the river settlement was signed with the purpose of restoring and protecting the health and wellbeing of the Waikato River for future generations.<\/p>\n