David Trewavas: Taupō Mayor on the update to the Joint Management Agreement with Ngāti Tūwharetoa

Talks about a major update to a 15 year old agreement between Taupō’s council and the region's largest landowners have sparked controversy.  

The 2009 Joint Management Agreement between the district council and Ngāti Tūwharetoa is being workshopped, and a draft agreement has been presented to the public. 

Critics argue that no public mandate has been issued, and that ‘Treaty principles’ are embedding ‘co-governance’ directly into council operations.  

Mayor David Trewavas told Mike Hosking the agreement has absolutely nothing to do with co-governance, and is instead about protecting Lake Taupō. 

He says that when people actually look at and understand the deal, they’ll understand it’s about protecting the lake and ensuring it remains one of the cleanest in the world. 

“It’s just all about the lake, nothing to do with co-governance at all.” 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Taupo, updating the two thousand and nine Joint Management Agreement
between the council and NATI two for eta. The critics
argue there's no public mandate and that the treaty principles
are embedding co governance directly into council operations. The Mayor
of Tapa is David Waders, who's back with us. David,
morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yeah, good morning Mane. Now, christ I'm very.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Well, thank you. My understanding was you were doing this yesterday?
Is that correct?

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Will know We were just having a workshop on it,
just to you know, let the public know and inform
them about it. Yeah. It's absolutely got nothing to do
co governance. It's all about protecting the lake and the
trivities to come into the lake. So some rogue person
has gone to hobsencele Ledge and sort of stirred it
all up. But it's got nothing to do with co governan.

(00:43):
It's about looking up the lake, the owners of the lake.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
Let me come back to that in the moment. As
far as the workshop goes, who turns up and is
the community engaged generally?

Speaker 2 (00:52):
Yeah, quite a bit crowd, actually, fifty to seventy probably
people there, more mature age group. But that's all good
and you know, let people know what's happening and all
that sort of thing. It's just an upgrading of an
agreement that we've had for years. And you know, like
you know, who doesn't want to protect the lakes. So

(01:14):
so they all went away I think reasonably happy. But
who knows?

Speaker 1 (01:17):
Okay, But yeah, is there general angst once again, I'll
come back to your lake comment on the moment. But
is their general angst around the marrification of how town,
cities and regions in this country are run in your area?
Do you think?

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Well? I don't think so. You know, I'm on the
ground pretty much all day and every day in the
CBD of Topol and you know, yeah too, funny tar
people are just such beautiful people, led by Sirtumuta Hughho,
the Paramount Chief. You only paramount chief in New Zealand.
They install the actual Mary King was first done here

(01:53):
in the late eighteen hundreds. You know. So that and
sixty five percent of the landmark is owned by two
but it are so why would you not have some
sort of arrangement with them?

Speaker 1 (02:04):
Okay, So here's what they're saying. Unlike the original two
thousand and nine agreement, which followed eight months of negotiation
and a documented series of public and harpoo meetings. This
proposed update no public visibility, you would say, not true?

Speaker 2 (02:16):
No, not true. Were set up a subcommittee to a
couple were a little bit overdre and actually doing this,
but a couple of years ago set up a subcommittee,
which we always do with council. And you know, they've
been working away and chooking away, and like any arrangement,
you know, it takes a bit of a bit of
a bit of here and there with it, and a
bit of two and throw and and now we're present,

(02:38):
ready to present to the public and see what they see,
what they say, you know.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
The public though, and this is where I suppose it
gets a bit crunchy. What did the public go, We're
sick of this, we don't want it. Then?

Speaker 2 (02:48):
What, well, yeah, we we what we agreed to yesterday.
We've got the staff to go away and do a
paper on what consultation looks like. You know, you know,
is that a possibility and all that sort of thing.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
So what do you mean as consultation of possibility? Surely
you're going to consult No.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
No, Well, it's an agreement between two Fooduitar which owned
the lake Remembory. It's a privately owned lake, just massive
fresh water in New Zealand, privately owned and the Council
two Foodatar Marriage Trust Board have been around for one
hundred years, you know, so we've got a wonderful relationship
with them, so why not destroy that. But the possibility

(03:29):
of you know, consulting and.

Speaker 1 (03:33):
So maybe no consultation, David, I think.

Speaker 2 (03:37):
We're probably leaning towards it. But we'll just see what
the council, what the councilors say when we come.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
And if they say no, if they say yes to
consultation and the consultation tells you unequivocally that people don't
want this, does that going to make any difference? Or
are we wasting our time on consultation?

Speaker 2 (03:53):
Well, we have the luxury of using a privately owned
lak here, you know.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
So no, I know that. But if you consult with
people and the people tell you something, do you ignore them?

Speaker 2 (04:02):
Oh? No, not necessarily. We we take it on board.
You know, we're all from different backgrounds and all that
sort of things. So you know, we we'll go away
and you know, discuss what the consultation results in and
then come back to you know, come back to the
to a public meeting and make a decision.

Speaker 1 (04:21):
Do you reckon this will be an issue come the
end of the year in local bodies.

Speaker 2 (04:25):
I didn't think so. I think once once people actually
look at the deal, understand the deal, know about it.
It's all about protecting the lake, which is one of
the cleanest lakes in the world, you know, So we
don't want to end up like another lake you know
where you know that we can't use. And so yeah,

(04:46):
it's just all about all about positioning like nothing to
do co governance.

Speaker 1 (04:49):
All right, I appreciate your time very much. David Wavers
is the topo mayor summation. As I thought he started
well when it went a bit pish by the end
of it on the consultation business. So the claims are
expanded jurisdiction, governant governance of by treaty principle, policy influence
without authority, no financial guardrails, no reporting or oversight, and

(05:13):
consultation has been sidelined. For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast,
listen live to news talks.

Speaker 2 (05:19):
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