Community Outcome: Otago Regional Council has effective and meaningful partnerships with mana whenua, creating better outcomes for our region.
For ORC, strengthening and deepening our partnership with mana whenua is key to achieving our strategic priorities and effectively performing our role. This means continuing our journey to work more closely and effectively with mana whenua across all that we do.
An effective partnership is a relationship grounded in mutual benefit, trust, and shared responsibility. A meaningful partner relationship goes beyond consultation to looking out for each other’s interests, solving problems together, being reasonable and constructive, and recognising the distinct roles, strengths, knowledge, aspirations, and responsibilities each party brings.
ORC’s role includes working in genuine partnership with mana whenua and enabling meaningful Māori participation in democratic decision-making and environmental management. This is grounded in supporting the intent of the Crown to uphold the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi) as recognised in local government and Treaty settlement legislation.
This requires having particular regard to kaitiakitanga (guardianship), actively providing the opportunity for tangata whenua to exercise their kaitiaki responsibilities to protect the wellbeing and mauri (life force) of Otago’s environment, and to maintain the deep ancestral relationships they hold with place in the ways they wish to do so. It also includes drawing on mātauraka Māori, taking a multigenerational and holistic systems view, and working together to deliver positive outcomes for Otago’s environment and communities.
Effective partnership enables us to address complex challenges, share the load, access cultural and technical expertise, and implement coordinated approaches to governance, decision-making, and work plans.
In June 2024, the relationship between the Council and mana whenua was found to be robust and constructive. A review would need to be undertaken to understand if this has changed since then.
ORC commissioned Te Kura Taka Pini to assess progress on its commitment to partner with mana whenua, including progress towards the community outcome that ORC has effective and meaningful partnerships with mana whenua, creating better outcomes for the region.
The assessment examined how the relationship works in practice, drawing on interviews across both mana whenua and Council. This included consideration of the Mana-to-Mana relationship between Councillors and mana whenua, relationships between ORC staff and mana whenua, and the arrangements, processes, and capability in place to support the partnership.
These insights provided an indication of how effective and meaningful the relationship is, and where ORC sits on its partnership journey.
Overall, the relationship between the Council and mana whenua was found to be robust and constructive. The Council was recognised as showing a strong willingness to partner with mana whenua and as continually taking action aimed at strengthening the relationship.
ORC was also found to recognise mana whenua as Te Tiriti partners in the region, rather than simply stakeholders, and to repeat its commitments to go beyond legislative obligations and more effectively involve Māori in decision-making.
The audit found that the partnership is effective and constructive due to several reinforcing mechanisms:
Together, these mechanisms form the basis of a robust, respectful, and constructive relationship and explain the overall finding that ORC and mana whenua are working together in ways that are effective, meaningful, and evolving.
Te Tiriti Audit Report, prepared for ORC by Te Kura Taka Pini Ltd, June 2024.