March 19, 2017
Recognising a River as a Person at a time we are selling water to foreign interests
Recognising a River as a Person at a time we are selling water to foreign interests
MARTYN 'BOMBER' BRADBURY OPINION
It says much about the advances New Zealand has made that the Whanganui River has been granted legal personhood, but the surprise in the media still suggests a long way to go.
In their settlement with the Crown, Whanganui River iwi pushed to have the River given the same legal status of a person. I believe that this element within Maoridom to identify directly to the land is a cultural value that Pakeha desperately need to learn from.
As our rivers become polluted from dairy intensification and foreign interests manage to take hundreds of thousands of litres a day for free, viewing our environment as a real living life being with the same legal rights as a human makes perfect sense.
We could not do to a human being what we are doing to our fresh water supply right now without getting charged with grievous bodily harm. They'd be enough evidence to suggest upgrading from manslaughter to first degree murder in some cases.
We should be looking to give much of NZs abundant natural resources this level of protection with real legal ramifications to those who harm the health of that natural resource.
To ensure the future, NZ needs to learn from its past.
Martyn Bradbury
Editor – TheDailyBlog.co.nz
twitter.com/CitizenBomber
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