New Zealand should delay the partial sale of a state power company until indigenous people’s claims over water resources are settled, a government tribunal said on Monday.
The centre-right National Party-led government plans to sell minority stakes in three state-owned power companies, a coal miner and the national airline, worth as much as NZ$7 billion ($5.7 billion), to help get its budget back into surplus by 2015 and reduce debt.
The first sale, of up to 49 percent of power company Mighty River Power, has been expected for the third quarter, but the indigenous Maori people said the sale should be delayed until their claim to the water used by state-owned hydropower stations is heard.
Any concession of the Maori claim could reduce the price the government might get for the assets.
The Waitangi Tribunal, which hears claims and grievances from Maori over land and resources ownership under the historic Treaty of Waitangi, said the government should delay any share sale until the claim is fully heard.
“The sale of shares in … (the) companies could therefore cause a significant disadvantage to the claimants, were their claims to be determined to be well founded,” the Tribunal said in a written report.
The Tribunal is an advisory body only and has no power to halt the sale or compel the government to comply.
Prime Minister John Key said the government would study the report before making a formal response to the recommendation.
“We want to act in good faith and let the process run its course but in the fullness of time we will respond to the Waitangi Tribunal,” he told reporters.
Key has previously called the Maori claim opportunistic, and said no individual or group can own water resources.
But after objections from the small Maori Party, which supports his government on key issues in parliament, he said the administration would not undermine any Maori rights that might be established.
“This recommendation allows for all parties to take a deep breath and consider its ramifications,” said Donna Hall, a lawyer for the Maori claimants.
The government claimed a mandate to proceed with the controversial asset sales after it was returned to power in last November’s elections.
In order to sweeten public opinion it has said it will ensure New Zealanders get preference in share sales, limit any individual holdings, and offer bonus shares to locals who hold shares for at least three years.
