ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how well the Crown and sub-national government met the challenges created by new provisions for Maori in the Resource Management Act. It reviews the actions taken by several central government agencies to assist councils in meeting the obligations, and then the efforts made by councils to incorporate Maori interests in their plans. Devolution requires some form of partnership between the Government and Maori. In 1988, the Government's policy for devolution to Maori, Tukua Te Rangatiratanga, highlights the nature of the partnership. Legislation has always played a dominant role in suppressing or protecting Maori interests in New Zealand. Under increasing political pressure, not only in the political opposition, but also from the liberal democrats in its own ranks, the Labour Government was in retreat from its short-lived Treaty policies and planning to return Treaty issues to the political arena.
