Maori and the Government are on a collision course with regard to the forming of a marine sanctuary in the waters around the Kermadec Islands.
And the Government support party, the Maori Party, is likely to put its support behind Maori leaders opposing the sanctuary.
Environment Minister Nick Smith is leading the sanctuary campaign. He says objections are ignoring the need for leadership in marine conservation, overstating the impacts in respect of fishery and Treaty settlement obligations and underestimating the opportunities for economic and scientific gain.
In return, the six Maori leaders, who include three knights and two dames, have slammed the decision without consultation on the Treaty settlement it affects.
Sir Tipene O'Regan, Dame Tariana Turia, Sir Mark Solomon, Sir Toby Curtis, Dame Iritana Tawhiwhirangi and former Labour minister Koro Wetere, from the Te Ohu Kai Moana Trust, are deeply opposed to the decision which they say stems from the Government's lack of consultation.
Sir Tipene says the sanctuary agreement cuts across the 1992 Treaty of Waitangi fisheries settlement. He believes Prime Minister John Key was misled and badly advised over the sanctuary.
Critics of the deal say it may be a popular decision to establish the sanctuary but that it seriously damages the goodwill the Government spent seven years building up.
Former Alliance MP Sandra Lee strongly disagrees and says Te Ohu Kai Moana, in its fight to stop a marine sanctuary, fails to understand this is about preserving something for future generations.
The former conservation minister and associate minister of Maori affairs says the proposed sanctuary is one of five marine sites across the world identified by National Geographic as so unique, pristine and scientifically important they must be protected from commercial exploitation. Endangered species like humpback and southern right whales swim in the warmer waters as they migrate to their Antarctic feeding grounds.
Te Ohu Kai Moana says creating the Kermadec sanctuary is like the Government taking someone's vacant lot in central Auckland to use for the housing crisis.
This hardly suggests a level of understanding about how many New Zealanders feel about the issue of preserving nature for all to enjoy, not just a few. Already, there is a painfully obvious campaign from a group aligned with keeping the ownership of New Zealand water free for everyone.
This harks back to the divisive, but effective, speech in Orewa by former National Party leader Don Brash. There comes a time when Maori leaders need to step back and view the situation from the eyes of all New Zealanders, not just a privileged few.
The Government says the claim the sanctuary undermines the 1992 Treaty fisheries settlement is incorrect. The Government always retains the right to create protected areas where fishing will be disallowed and has done so in more than 20 new marine reserves.
Also, it is noted not one tonne of fish has been taken from the proposed sanctuary by Maori since the settlement, despite more than three million tonnes being caught elsewhere.
There are five non-Maori fishing companies affected but they have only caught an average 20 tonnes out of a national annual catch of 650,000.
There needs to come a time, and soon, when Pakeha New Zealanders are not forever blamed for the fate of Maori.
The country was colonised by the British but for how many years can generations be expected to pay for those past years of enforced removal from tribal lands? Waitangi Day is turning into a national disgrace, not a day of celebration and remembrance.
There will be a path agreement ahead and negotiations will take place. In the end, the Government will press on with its plan to form the sanctuary and Maori will receive recompense from elsewhere.
