I have waited for any conservation comment from members or the Forest and Bird Society about the Prime Ministers announcement 2 weeks ago that title to Te Urewera National Park would not be handed to Tuhoe as part of their Treaty Settlement.
There has been a deafening silence perhaps because the whole issue makes liberal New Zealanders feel uncomfortable.
I had thought that this Government was sticking by the Government's before it's long held decision that the only "small, discrete and special areas" of conservation and reserve land were being considered for title transfer as part of the Treaty settlement process.
Apparently this is no longer the case. Title to major areas of Scenic Reserve and Conservation Land are being handed to Iwi almost at will by Treaty Settlement Minister Chris Findlayson and his officials at the Office of Treaty Settlements. This is a secret process.
Forest and Bird Nominee on the NZ Conservation Authority Linda Conning has some awareness of the scale of these transfers. She visited me recently and briefed me about the scale of loss of public conservation land through this process. It is enormous.
Moreover because other iwi have "relativity" clauses in their Treaty Settlements and the Government doesn't want to hand over cash, the handing over of conservation land is a soft and cheap option. First Te Urewera, perhaps next Tongariro and then what South Island National Parks will go?
Officials in DOC will be well aware of the scale of the existing and proposed privatisation of conservation lands and are probably horrified by what is going on but are powerless to stop it or to even make it public. This issue desperately needs to be aired publicly.
We need a response from the Minister of Conservation outlining just what is going on with the public lands that she is supposed to be caretaking for all the people of New Zealand.