Co-governance

There are various definitions for co-governance within a New Zealand framework. The Human Rights Commission has defined co-governance as "the various arrangements where Māori and the New Zealand Crown share decision-making power or where Māori exercise a form of self-determination, albeit as a delegation of state power." Notable examples of co-governance arrangements include the co-management of natural resources as part of Treaty of Waitangi settlements, the provision of social services to Māori by Māori-focused entities such as Te Aka Whai Ora (the Māori Health Authority), and the guaranteed inclusion of Māori in local governance (via Māori wards and constituencies). Former Attorney-General and Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Chris Finlayson has likened co-governance to co-management, stating that "it is not an opportunity to micromanage the officials' work, but a chance to set priorities and to have a say in how to manage a resource." Within a national framework, former Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand) Chair and ethical business advocate Rob Campbell has described the framing of co-governance as "sharing responsibility between Māori and [Pākehā]." According to Campbell, the most common co-governance arrangements are those "between the Crown and some tangata whenua ("People of the Land") structure, often one created by the Crown for the purpose, to partially accommodate Treaty of Waitangi obligations." University of Auckland Māori studies Professor Margaret Mutu has described co-governance as "we [Māori] making decisions about their own lives, the government making its own decisions about its people's lives, and both parties meeting to make decisions on matters that relate to us both." Mutu authored the He Puapua report, which was commissioned by the New Zealand Government in 2019 to investigate how New Zealand could fulfill the goals of the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. ==Implementation==

Resource management Notable co-governance arrangements for resource management include the Waikato River Authority, the Tūpuna Maunga o Tāmaki Makaurau Authority managing the Auckland volcanic field, the Te Waihora Co-Governance Agreement governing Lake Ellesmere in Canterbury, the Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Strategy Group, Tauranga's Ngā Poutiriao o Mauao, the Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust in Waikato, the Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Reserves Board, the Parakai Recreation Reserve Board, Ngāi Tūhoe and the Department of Conservation's shared management of Te Urewera's forests and lakes, and the Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River settlement). In 2008, the Waikato-Tainui tribe (iwi) and the New Zealand Government reached a settlement over the tribe's claim to the Waikato river. This settlement was reviewed and out of that came the Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Act 2010, which established the Waikato River Authority as part of a co-governance and co-management framework between the Crown and five local iwi (Tainui, Te Arawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Raukawa, and Maniapoto). Reflecting the Authority's co-governance structure, its ten-member board consists of five tribal members and five Crown members (including one regional council member and one territorial authority member). The board operate under consensus decision-making and their vision and strategy is long-term, further than a political cycle, to restore and protect the health of the river for generations to come. In March 2012, the Mauao Trust, with the support of the Tauranga Moana Iwi Collective, proposed a joint administering body relationship with the Tauranga City Council for the Mauao Historic Reserve. In July 2004, the Crown had agreed to transfer the reserve's fee simple estate to three local iwi in Tauranga: the Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Pūkenga. These three iwi subsequently established the Mauao Trust in July 2007 to represent their interests. In mid 2013, the Mauoa Trust and City Council reached a memorandum of understanding and established Ngā Poutiriao o Mauao to jointly run the Mauoa Historic Reserve. In 2015 Ngāi Tahu iwi, the Crown, and Canterbury Regional Council reached a formal co-governance arrangement to manage Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora and its surrounding catchment. In 1998, the Government had transferred ownership of Te Waihora's lakebed to Ngāi Tahu as part of a Treaty of Waitangi settlement. Ngāi Tahu's Te Waihora Management Board subsequently worked with DOC to develop a joint management plan for the Lake Ellesmere lakebed and surrounding land. This resulted in the 2009 Canterbury Water Management Strategy, which led to the 2015 co-governance arrangement. In 2023, the Green Party of Aotearoa announced a NZ$100 million Moana Fund for iwi and hapū to carry out coastal restoration projects around the Sugar Loaf Islands near Port Taranaki, which was inspired by the Kaipara Moana Remediation project. The Labour Government's co-governance policies attracted opposition from the opposition National and ACT parties, the Hobson's Pledge lobby group and right-wing activist Julian Batchelor. During the 2023 New Zealand general election, co-governance was a prominent election issue, with National, ACT, and New Zealand First campaigning for the reversal of several of Labour's co-governance programmes, including Māori wards, Three Waters, the Māori Health Authority and indigenous biodiversity co-management. In late November 2023, the newly-formed Sixth National Government committed to reversing the Labour Government's public sector co-governance policies as part of its coalition agreement with ACT and New Zealand First. On 14 February 2024, the Government passed legislation repealing the previous Labour Government's Three Waters reform programme under urgency. While National, ACT and NZ First supported the bill, it was opposed by the Labour, Green, and Māori parties. On 28 February 2024, the Government passed urgent legislation disestablishing Te Aka Whai Ora (the Māori Health Authority). On 30 July 2024, the Government passed legislation restoring the right of local referendum on the establishment or ongoing use of Māori wards. National, ACT and NZ First supported the bill and it was opposed by the Labour, Green, and Māori parties. International parallels International examples of co-governance for indigenous peoples include Native American tribal sovereignty in the United States and Sámi parliaments in Finland, Norway, Sweden. ==Political party views and positions==

In the early 2020s political parties in New Zealand have taken a range of perspectives on co-governance. While the Labour, Green and Māori parties have supported co-governance as a means of honouring the Treaty of Waitangi, National and ACT have supported co-governance in resource management while opposing its extension into the delivery of public services. Meanwhile, New Zealand First has opposed all co-governance arrangements as racially discriminatory and elitist. It has been a contentious matter. On one hand it is argued that it is non-democratic and a misinterpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi, and on the other it is supported as shared decision-making and partnership in governance, as affirmed from the Treaty of Waitangi. ==Public opinion polling==

Between June and July 2023, a Talbot Mills Research survey found that 29% of respondents supported co-governance while 36% opposed it. Talbot Mills used Dr Margaret Mutu's definition of co-governance, which was predicated around the idea of Māori exercising self-determination over their own lives while simultaneously negotiating with the Crown on issues relating to both Māori and other New Zealanders. Māori and Pasifika were more likely to agree with co-governance compared with Asian and European New Zealanders. Younger New Zealanders also tended to be more supportive. Talbot Mills surveyed 1,100 nationally representative individuals respondents aged 18 years and over, and had a 3 percent margin of error. ==See also==