Federated Farmers call to scrap controversial freshwater rules

The rules - known as Te Mana o te Wai - have created huge consenting problems for farmers, councils and communities alike, says Hooper.

"The concept of Te Mana o te Wai will require local councils to regulate vague spiritual concepts like the 'life force' of water, causing untold issues around the country," he says.

"I've never met a farmer who didn't care about improving freshwater quality, or want to play their part, but this is getting out of control. The rules are totally unworkable."

Te Mana o Te Wai requires councils to regulate not just measurable standards like water clarity, fish life, or E. coli, but also concepts such as the 'mana' or 'mauri' of water.

Hooper says legislating for vague and undefined spiritual concepts that most New Zealanders don't even subscribe to will only lead to confusion, inconsistency, and unnecessary costs.

"That's why Federated Farmers is standing up, putting a stake in the ground, and calling on the Government to unequivocally rule out the concept of Te Mana o Te Wai."

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He says the Government must replace Te Mana o Te Wai with plain language law that is clear, certain and enforceable.

He says trying to regulate intangibles like a river's life force raises huge questions about who decides when that life force is protected.

"If we're measuring clarity or nitrogen levels, that's straightforward because we can ask an ecologist to test it and, if needed, get another expert to peer review it.

"But how on earth do we determine when the 'mauri' of a river is protected?"

The answer, in many cases, has been to hand that responsibility to local mana whenua - iwi and hapū with historical association to a waterway.

Hooper says this will, in effect, just grant mana whenua a monopoly on deciding what is, or isn't, allowed to happen in New Zealand.

"We've seen examples where mana whenua groups say mixing two water bodies, like a water race does, may reduce mauri because it mixes two river spirits together.

"We've also seen claims that any discharge of treated wastewater into a waterway, despite being scientifically clean, would reduce mauri too.

"These blanket requirements pose a significant barrier to rational and open debate when one group's beliefs can override the needs of an entire community."

According to the Feds, Te Mana o te Wai was embedded in regulations first passed under National in 2017 and was made even more complicated by Labour's 2020 freshwater reforms.

Hooper says farmers and rural communities across New Zealand have had enough of the uncertainty and unnecessary costs it has created.

"We welcomed the Government's commitment last year to fix unworkable, expensive freshwater rules - but they need to do the job properly.

"A decision on Te Mana o te Wai is due soon but, of the three different options the Government has floated, only one of them fully repeals Te Mana o Te Wai."

Federated Farmers believes the only way forward is to repeal the rules and replace them with clear, science-based standards.

"New Zealand needs fair and practical environmental limits that everyone can easily understand and work with," Hooper says.

"That's just not possible while the concept of Te Mana o te Wai sits at the heart of our national freshwater laws."