He mahi parau te kāhui Māori hōu mo te wai Māori, koinei tō Maanu Paul heamana o te kaunihera Māori ki Mātaatua. Kei te whakatūhia e te Minita take Taiao a David Parker i te Kāhui Wai Māori mo te wai te take. E ai ki a Maanu Paul, he tino taonga te wai Māori ki a tātau katoa. Ka mutu he kanohi hōmiromiro ia ki te kāhui kua whakatūhia mo te wai Māori. “Ki au nei kua āhua kāhaki te kaupapa e te kāwana nei, koia kei te kī mai kei a ia te mana hei korero, hei whakatū ngā Māori, ā, kia korero ki a rātou, kao, kei a mātou tonu”. Kei te hiahia te Minita take Taiao ki te kōrero tahi me te Māori ki runga i te wai Māori. E ai ki te Minita ko tētahi o ngā mahi o te kāhui Wai Māori he tohu, he ārahi i a ia me tōna kawantanga engari mā te wā e kitea. “He niho more noa iho tērā, nō reira kāre au e te tino whakapono ki te mana o tēnā rōpū, me te mea kei te kāwanatanga te mana ki te kī ko wai ka uru”. E ai ki te Heamana o te pōari roto moana o Te Arawa a Tā Toby Curtis he kaupapa pai te kāhui hōu, hei kimi i te wāhi taurite ki te taha o te karauna. “Kia noho mātou i te taha o ngā kaunihera ā rohe, kaunihera o ngā taonga, kei a rātou te mana hei tohatoha i te wai, ta mātou hiahia kia noho i reira, ana kia kore rātou e tohatoha te wai, ana, ko rātou anake”. Ko ngā pūkenga e hiahiatia nei e te Minita mai te hunga ka tohu mo tēnei kāhui, nō ngā Iwi, hapū, rōpū Māori, kaporeihana ahumahi, Mātauranga Māori, rōpū tautoko, nō ngā kaupapa rauemi, pakihi, ōhanga, ngā rōpū ā ture, pūtaiao hoki. “Kei a mātou te iwi Māori, te hapū Māori hei whakatū i wā tātau tāngata, mā tātau anō e kī atu pēnei i ta mātou korero ki te Taraipuinara, whakatūhia ta mātou komihana ā wai, mā mātau e korero ki te kāwanatanga me pēhea te whakahaere ngā kaupapa me ngā ture e pā ana ki te wai”. Ko tā Toby e whakatūpato nei te mana o te Māori ki te wai he take nui tonu. “Kia kore te ao Pākeha, e wareware, e he kaha ake ta tātau piri atu ki te wai i a rātou”. Ka tūwhera hei te rua tekau o tēnei marama.
National | Dispute