Māori Status in New Zealand Law · Jurisdiction Ledger · Part 37 · Current law

How does resource-management law treat tangata whenua and iwi authority?

Resource-management jurisdiction remains statutory, but the RMA expressly requires decision-makers to recognise Māori relationships, kaitiakitanga and Treaty principles and provides mechanisms for iwi participation.

The Resource Management Act 1991 is a strong example of a general statutory jurisdiction containing Māori-specific substantive duties.

The Act requires recognition of the relationship of Māori and their culture and traditions with ancestral lands, water, sites, wāhi tapu and other taonga as a matter of national importance. Decision-makers must have particular regard to kaitiakitanga and take Treaty principles into account.

The Act also contains Mana Whakahono a Rohe provisions designed to record how tangata whenua, through iwi authorities, participate in resource-management and decision-making processes.

The jurisdiction remains created by statute.But the statute does not treat Māori interests as irrelevant private preferences. It builds particular Māori relationships, tikanga-based concepts and iwi participation into the legal criteria governing public decisions.

Jurisdiction claimed overUse, development and protection of land, water, coast and natural/physical resources.

Primary instrumentResource Management Act 1991.

Māori-specific legal contentSections 6(e), 7(a), 8 and Mana Whakahono a Rohe provisions.

What remains distinctParticipation and statutory recognition are not equivalent to saying all resource-management power originated in councils rather than pre-existing Māori authority; that historical question remains separate.

The modern statute therefore overlays public regulatory jurisdiction with express duties toward tangata whenua and iwi authority.

Primary statuteResource Management Act 1991.

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