The Kaipara Konnection - Kaipara Konnection - Dargaville.BIZ

A terrorist is someone who has a bomb
but can’t afford an air force. --William Blum
An Observation from Aardvark
Free water, pay here
The Prime Minister has told us that water is not “owned” by
anyone -- it is owned by everyone. This will undoubtedly come as
very good news for those who are forced (by threat of harsh legal
penalty) to pay for the water-rights they need to irrigate their
land or whatever. I guess that if the PM is true to his word, local
authorities and environmental bodies will now be powerless to
charge anyone for this resource.
Cue Tui’s ad.
I suspect that the PM really means “water is not owned by Maori,
it’s owned by the government of the day”.
That is very different to what he’s been saying and I see the magic of political spin being used to its fullest extent here.
Would it be right to grant Maori “ownership” of the water under the provisions of The Treaty? Well perhaps they ought to
own the water that was in our lakes and rivers at the moment The Treaty was signed - but I suspect that water has long
since evaporated or flowed out to sea. If Maori can find and identify that water, they’re welcome to it. However, since the
contents of our lakes and rivers are constantly renewed, I would argue, like the PM, that *everyone* owns the fluid that
now fills those waterways.
Which raises the issue of whether the government (central or local) has any right to charge for the use of a resource
that we already own. Whether it’s a water-right for power generation or a water-right for irrigation, an admission by the
government that “water should not be owned” indicates that there can not be any charge for its use. Yes, if you live in a
town where there is reticulated water then the company which provides that *service* is entitled to charge you for your
connection -- but they ought not be able to charge you by the litre -- since that’s charging for something the PM says
“should not be owned” and, if you don’t own something, how can you sell it - that’s fraud.
I’m a little torn over this whole issue -- on the one hand, I’m tempted to support any initiative that will halt the partial sale
of state-owned assets in the way that the government is planning. On the other hand however, I don’t think that Maori
can sensibly claim ownership of something that has long-since left the building.
And remember -- if government is prepared to be so hypocritical as to sell something that it admits ought not be owned
by anyone - how long before it decides to sell our water to offshore ownership in a poorly planned attempt to balance the
books.
We’re constantly being told by futurists that water will soon become the most precious commodity in the world. How long
before we’re buying *our* water back from the Chinese, USA or other “owner” I wonder?
I have to admit I’m getting seriously pissed off at the antics and stupidity of our politicians.
The Ink Spot
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