Kaitiaki taiao for Te Rūnanga o Ngā Wairiki Ngāti Apa, Chris Shenton, said the changes and proposed changes are numerous. “There’s the RMA reforms, Three Waters Reform, the National Policy on Freshwater, and then the rights and interests in fresh water, which are at the core of it for whānau, hapū and iwi,” Shenton said. “The discussion around water rights and interests has been on the backburner for a long time. The current Government’s got a strong position in Parliament right now – they’re now willing to bring it forward and address it, so it’s crunch time.”