Waikato-Tainui says river rule pause overrides Treaty settlement

Waikato-Tainui says delaying Plan Change 1 until 2032 overrides its Treaty settlement and Environment Court rulings to favour government donors, leaving the Waikato and Waipā rivers facing six more years of degradation. The plan change flows from Te Ture Whaimana, the iwi's settlement-negotiated river vision. Minister Shane Jones said food security "cannot play second fiddle" to any settlement and signalled the pause may become indefinite.