Request for regular reporting to the Authority on Section 4 matters

As we look ahead to the 2024/25 financial year, the Authority are focused on setting our priorities and work plan for this period. A key priority we will be giving particular attention to in this period are our obligations under section 4 of the Conservation Act.

We are pleased to see that the section 4 and Treaty issues are a larger part of the SLT work program with leadership from Ruth Issac, Tame Malclom and Peter Galvin. We appreciated the briefing in June 2024 on the Treaty Settlements End to End Review and we have received excellent briefings from Tame Malcolm and his team over the last year. 

The Authority have recently agreed to a set of actions specifically to give effect to our section 4 obligations and contribute to our wider work plan. You will observe these actions reflected in our work programme; they include:

1. A standing s4 item at Authority meetings, during which members will discuss topical te Tiriti and s4 issues.
2. Engagement with mana whenua at every Authority meeting, including Wellington based meetings.
3. An annual self-review of the Authority’s performance with respect to Māori engagement and fulfilling its s4 obligations
4. The Treaty Partnerships Committee to continue undertaking additional work to support the Authority’s s4 obligations

In addition to the above actions, pursuant to our functions under section 6B(1)(c) of the Conservation Act 1987, the Authority requests from the Department a regular update on section 4 issues at our meetings.

We envisage that the first update for our meeting in August will include the following information:

• A briefing on any section 4 or treaty settlement-based litigation involving DOC as a party and any litigation that may have an impact on the Authority’s section 4 obligations.

This includes pending litigation related to section 4 as well as a case analysis from recent judicial decisions. We are not seeking confidential or legal advice received by the department. We expect that this briefing would be updated at each future meeting so may not be comprehensive in its first draft.

• An update on legislative impacts on DOC or the Authority’s section 4 obligations.

This includes regulatory reform, legislative drafting, deeds of settlement and settlement legislation. We do not expect to receive confidential information or papers.  This information will enable the Authority to monitor and respond to legislative reform in a timely fashion. We would like it in a form that can be readily updated at each Authority meeting.

 A risk register of section 4 matters, including:

• Information from DOC on any cultural materials matter in any future settlements
• Existing Treaty Settlement relationship updates
• Section 4 and Settlement litigation

We understand from previous briefings that section 4 matters are a large part of a risk register for the department. We need to understand the extent and nature of these risks if we are to advocate for and meet our obligations to iwi Māori under section 4. Again, we do not expect to see confidential material or significant detail. We do need to understand the breadth of risk referred to in previous briefings. This information will inform our statutory obligations as we work and consult with iwi Māori and assist us to monitor the departments progress on resolving section 4 and Treaty settlement matters.

We ask that the Department’s first section 4 update is presented at the August authority meeting, and it will be delivered as a stand-alone session, as opposed to being wrapped into the D-G/DD-G Strategic session.

In return, the Authority will aim to provide helpful advice to the Department on s4 matters during this session; we believe this update will be beneficial for both the Department and the Authority and will further improve our collaborative relationship. With regards to the Authority’s wider work programme, we look forward to sharing this with you once it is complete, perhaps at the August meeting.

We hope to align our priorities to the Department’s where possible, to ensure we are working towards the same goals.