ABSTRACT
147The previous chapters analysed the legislative and policy recognition in Australia of Indigenous rights to participate in the management of water resources. Given the federal nature of Australia’s political system and the limitations in the Constitution on Commonwealth power to enact water-specific legislation, the analysis focussed on Victorian legislation. Having concluded that the legislation at both levels does little to facilitate Indigenous participation in water management, this chapter examines the situation in Aotearoa New Zealand to ascertain whether its water management regime, insofar as it provides for Māori participation in the management of water resources, fares any better. Aotearoa New Zealand’s similar legal and common law history and colonial context make it a useful comparator, bearing in mind some very notable differences, explored below.
