In 1840 the representatives for the Queen of England and Maori signed the Treaty of Waitangi, ceding governance of Aotearoa New Zealand to the Queen (Article I) but retaining self determination with regard to lands, forests, waters, and other treasures (Article II). The expectation of all parties to the Treaty was that Maori would be full participants in the new governance process that resulted.
As a consequence of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, Aotearoa, now a Crown Colony, had a Governor General and an appointed Executive Council for decision-making. This arrangement was unpopular with European Colonists, wanting self-government, who were dissatisfied with many of the decisions, particularly those involving relations with Maori. On 1 January 1848, George Grey assumed the new office of Governor in Chief, but declined to enact in full an 1846 constitution that sought to establish self-government. Grey resisted enacting the constitution in full as he considered it would ‘give to a minority made up of one race power over a majority made up of another.’ The constitution
contained no suggestion of Maori representation at any of the proposed layers of government and administration (King, 2003).
The historic disempowerment of the indigenous voice in decision-making in Aotearoa has been the result of a series of legislated decisions since 1853. 1853 was the year that the constitution was enacted in full, making provision for the election of six provincial councils and a national parliament. The basis for eligibility to participate in elections was land ownership. This concept was inconsistent with communal land ownership of Maori and created barriers to participation until Maori men were given the vote in 1867, and then ten years later the individual property requirement was also abolished. Thus the creation of a parliament that excluded Maori enabled decisions that undermined Maori self-determination guaranteed under Article II.
Thus while the constitutional processes established replicated those of England, the result was far from equitable as it ignored guaranteed Maori rights (Article II), and further established provincial councils that had no Maori representation. The colonizing process that established provincial government, did not however relieve Maori of their traditional obligations of kaitiakitanga (guardianship) towards the environment.
These kaitiaki obligations drew Maori into direct conflict with decision makers over the years, manifested as both formal legal challenges and informal challenges (occupations, protests, and boycotts) to culturally inappropriate practices. Many of these challenges were successful, and the political consequences for local and national government have meant that the law evolved to be more inclusive of the indigenous people’s cultural perspective with regard to the environment. More recent legislation has attempted to incorporate cultural considerations into municipal practice (Local Government Act, 2002), however the result has been the exposure of short-comings in contemporary decision-making processes due to the inadequacy of the professional services attempting to provide expert cultural advice.
Few professional engineers will acknowledge that their past practices and decision- making has not accommodated Maori perspectives and thus the greatest challenge is gaining acknowledgement from the profession that their existing processes and decision- making are not totally adequate.
Sustainability of Indigenous Communities in Australia 6 Services to Settlements
An indigenous sustainability analysis, using mauri as the performance indicator, was carried out in parallel with assessments performed by professional engineers using the an imported model (Hellstrom, 2000) modified to incorporate cultural impacts. The technologies that did not achieve similar ratings in both analyses were important as the reasons for the differences were primarily related to traditional Maori values that differed from those of the professional engineers. In spite of the identification of the contentious approaches from a Maori perspective, the engineering consultants continued with their preferred scenario recommendation for a ‘pipe in pipe out’ solution with some minor water
conservation measures.
Sustainability of Indigenous Communities in Australia 6 Services to Settlements
Case Study B: Kawakawa Bay, Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park
The Auckland City District Plan (Hauraki Gulf Islands Section) became operative in July 1996. The Hauraki Gulf is described as an outstanding maritime area. This broad waterway open to the Pacific Ocean in the east has a long, indented and diverse coastline that includes beaches, harbours, seacliffs, and more than 65 islands. Wildlife is rich with many shorebirds, seabirds, penguins, fish, shellfish, whales and dolphins. It offers a variety of beautiful landscapes and seascapes, and few areas have a better maritime and coastal natural environment (NatureandCo, 2006).
Sustainability of Indigenous Communities in Australia 6 Services to Settlements
Photograph 6.3.1: Beach closure signs erected on pump station at Kawakawa Bay
The closure of Kawakawa Bay, on the Hauraki Gulf, was made necessary as a result of septic tank effluent seepage into streams and through the sandy soils directly onto the foreshore. The closure occurred in 2002 following a study that determined more than 60% of the on-site septic tank systems had failed. The closure prevents the local community from enjoying the beach for recreational activities and also prohibits the taking of shellfish as this practice is now considered to have too high a public health risk due to contamination of the water table that seeps into the bay. The municipal authority are currently installing sewage reticulation and tertiary treatment and have similar intentions for many other communities in the region facing similar problems. This solution is a continuation of the water based technologies that are the underlying cause of the problems the Kawakawa Bay community are currently facing and is no guarantee that future contamination of this water body will not occur during inevitable flood or high intensity rainfall events that exceed the capacity of the treatment plant design.
Figure 6.3.2: The SmartGrowth Study Area
This project demonstrated that Engineers and the Public Health sector have contributed significantly to the selection of approaches for water and wastewater management solutions for municipalities. Their solutions have evolved as the conventional approach, based on a limited range of technologies that use the water-carriage of sewage in pipes that discharge to a water body for disposal. These approaches are considered abhorrent by the Maori community, however when confronted with the inappropriateness of
contemporary practice, there was little interest in change. This resistance to change is demonstrated by the fact that the contemporary methods used for treatment of wastewater (primary and secondary) were all already in use by 1920 (Beder, 1997). Thus the technological paradigm of ‘pipe in pipe out’ engineering, the status quo, was challenged by Maori to better address the needs of the community in a more holistic and sustainable sense. A small concession in this regard, is a pilot of waterless technologies to determine the viability of more culturally acceptable approaches for residential
development. The SmartGrowth project results also confirmed the inadequacy of contemporary models being used by engineers to provide recommendations that were consistent with the holistic objectives being adopted by local government.
Case Study C: SmartGrowth Project
The SmartGrowth project developed fifty year planning strategies for regional governance and included the identification of appropriate infrastructure technologies (MWH/CISRO, 2002) for sustainable managed growth in the Western Bay of Plenty. The strategy leader wanting to ensure effective input from Maori of this region, engaged the author to facilitate the development of an integrated decision-making process that included cultural impacts, alongside the consideration of social, economic and environmental effects, on behalf of the Maori community.