Treaty of Waitangi and Abandoned Vehicle Problem - Assignment Example

?TREATY OF WAITANGI AND ABANDONED VEHICLE PROBLEM The report establishes a relationship between “Treaty of Waitangi” and “Abandoned Vehicle”. It alsolucidly portrays the effect of the treaty over some issues, related to the environment management and economic society. The analysis will clearly illustrate how the negatives and positives over the environmental factors affect the treaty formation and the abandoned vehicle. The Treaty of Waitangi served as the founding document for New Zealand. It was an agreement in between representatives of the Maoriiwi and Crown and Hapu. The treaty did not form a part of the constitution. It was primarily a statement of principle which was build over the consent of the British officials and Maori chiefs with an agreement of formation of new government in New Zealand to address the pressing new circumstances. As the treat was not drafted it was primarily a promise in-between the concerned parties. The Treaty got three versions. As per the English version the Maori gave the restricted right to the Crown to buy the land which they only wish to sell and in favor of that they would be entitled to the British nationality or British Subject. The treaty in Maori was supposed to convey the similar meaning but there was a reasonable difference since the word “sovereignty” was deciphered as governance. For the Maori settlers it pertained the meaning that though that, “they were giving up the government over their lands but retaining the right to manage their own affairs” (New Zealand History Online, 2012). The Waitangi Sheet (Archives New Zealand, n.d.) As per the English version, the treaty assured that ‘undisputed possession of all the properties’ whereas the Maori version guaranteed ‘full authority over treasures which can be intangible’. Soon after a debate arouse over the discrepancy of the matter of fact. The British entered into the treaty with a view to take over the land of New Zealand and establish British colony. Soon after the treaty the British followed a land acquisition of Maoris’ which resulted into the alienation of the environmental resources without the consent of the inhabitants. Several grievances were made from Maoris’ in this regard. During 1985 the tribunal considered the Crown act and addressed the grievance of Maoris’. By 2010, as per the legislation, it became a mandate for the settlement of the claims of the Maoris’. The settlement made was in regards to compensation of the exploitation made of the environmental resources. Settlement followed in regards of the environmental legislation as per Resource Management Act, Conservation Act, Environment Act, Fisheries Act, Bio Security Act and Hazardous Substance and New Organism Act (Principles of the Treaty, 2002). Environmental management indicates the minimization of the indisposed impact and improving the environmental performances. Environment is the integral part of the society where people live in. The preservation of the same is the utmost responsibility of the human beings. But with the changing dimensions we the people, directly or indirectly, become responsible for the exploitation of the environment. For fulfilling this objective five guiding principles have been framed which will ensure the protection of the environment. These principles integrate environmental concerns with assessment making. They can also be used as a strategy which will serve the purpose of environmental instruments objected to protect the environment from hazards and exploitation. The five guiding principles are depicted the below flow chart. The Polluter pays Principle(PPP) stated that the polluter has to bear the cost of disobeying the environmental standards as per the predetermined principle of the public authorities. The primary objective of the PPP was encouragment of more productivity. It promoted the economic efficiency by application of the of pollulation control measures. It also aimed at the reduction of the prospective trade alteration arriving from environmental policies. The User pays Principle stated that the recipienties of the resouces should pay the full cost for the usage of the resouces and its related service.The UPP principle was against the materilistiuc objectives of the human which demanded the explotation of the nature. Both the principles of PPP and UPP were formulated with the objective of acheivng equitable efficiency with for environmenmt reservation. The Precautionery Principle stressed over the easing environmental stress before any evidence of damage and adopted policies in the preservation of the raw material resouces. The Subsidairy Principle (SP), on the other hand, provided guideance towards the application and the execution of the above mentioned principles. The SP recommended that the decisions taken were of population concern and the same had been authorized by the higher authorities. The International Equity Principle (IPE) framed the guideliobes for the sustainable development of the environment. This principle addressed the economic, social and environmental objectives for sustainable development. All the principles formed served as a guidance towards the prevention of wastage and improvement of the resouces. These principles also hepled in the identication, control and the minimization of the negative environmental impact that occured out of environmental explotation (Environmental Management Principle, n.d). The Treaty of Waitangi also found a close relation with the settlement of the inhabitant of New Zealand by the British government, for the exploitation of the natural resources. These settlements were based upon the principles of Environmental Legislation. As per the environmental legislation, ‘A provision requires public authorities to “take into account” a matter, is considered to have weaker standing, but is in turn stronger than to have “particular regard” ‘ (Principles Of The Treaty, 2002, pp.2). This in turn referred to the Environmental management principle. The provisions of the Environmental Legislations required the public authority to be taken into account with least possible level of public authority dependency. This called for the application of the Subsidiary principle. The principle gave an impetus towards the fact that, ‘political decisions should be taken by lowest possible level of public authority dependence with effective action’ (Environmental Management Principle, n.d). A per the environmental legislation most of the environmental case law were found to be based on the Environmental Management Principle. Issues related to the Resource Management Act and Hazardous Substance and New Organisms Act, found its solution based on the Polluter pays Principle of Environmental Management. Fisheries Act was based on the Principle of Intergenerational Equity Principle. On the other hand the Environmental Act was based upon the Precautionary principle of easing the environmental stress. Conservation Act promoted the reservation of the New Zealand resources and found a close proximity with the User pays Principle. In this way the environment hazards faced by the inhabitant of New Zealand were addressed based on the Environmental Management Principle. The problems of Abandoned Vehicle lead to a negative environmental impact. The term “Abandoned Vehicle” can be applied to any kind of nuisance vehicle effecting the environment in a negative way. The environmental issues forms a close connection with the issues related to the abandoned vehicle. The abandoned vehicle problem dealt with the problems related to motor vehicle regulation, illegal disposal of wastage in bulk and social disorder. Abandoned vehicles were often found to be unregistered and with defaced identification number. Few motor vehicle parts contained threatening substances creating hazards for the environment. The problems were prominent in the areas assorting from the sparsely inhabitant tribal land. In these areas people abandoned different type of vehicles from different cities turning it into a swampy area for the living of the tribal people. They, in turn, triggered the problem of the exploitation of environment. Dilapidated vehicles were found over the private properties of the tribal owner without the consent of the owner. Complaints from the owner regarding the junk cars became common (Maxfield, 2008). The problems of abandoned vehicle share a close relation with the Treaty of Waitangi which in turn account for environmental and economical problems and seek elucidation and revival of the same. The tribal inhabitant of the New Zealand badly suffered from the problems emerging from the abandoned vehicles. The British people used to dump the vehicle on the residing territories of the tribal inhabitant making the place unworthy for residence. The activities of dumping the vehicles were illegal and intricated the impact of the environment. The natural resources of New Zealand were thus exploited by the British people through the Abandon Vehicle act. This act also led to a negative socio economic effect by damaging the community and society. As a cascading effect it lead to several crimes in New Zealand. The resolution made over the Treaty of Waitangi was thus violated. As per the Treaty the inhabitants of New Zealand had equal right over the British nationality. But in the real scenario the British people went on exploiting the inhabitant people of New Zealand and their resources (Keep Britain Tidy, n.d.). The injustice towards the New Zealand inhabitant was addressed through the Environmental Legislation, which in turn also concentrated on the damages caused by the act of Abandoned Vehicle. The report thus depicts the way how the Treaty of Waitangi addressed problems of abandon car and the environmental issues based upon the environment principles. Reference list Archives New Zealand, n.d, The Waitangi Sheet, retrieved on 23 July 2013 from: http://archives.govt.nz/exhibitions/permanentexhibitions/treaty/?sheet=1 Environmental Management Principle, n.d, retrieved on 22 July 2013 from: http://coe.mse.ac.in/onerview/8.pdf Keep Britain Tidy, n.d , Abandoned Vehicles, retrieved on 23 July 2013 from: http://www2.keepbritaintidy.org/keyissues/abandonedvehicles/default.aspx Maxfield M, 2008, The Problem of Abandoned Vehicles, Center for Problem Oriented, retrieved on 22 July 2013 from: http://www.popcenter.org/problems/abandoned_vehicles/print/ New Zealand History Online, 2012, Treaty of Waitangi- Treaty Facts, retrieved on 23 July 2013 from: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/politics/treaty/treaty-faqs Principles of The Treaty, 2002, Parliamentary Commissioner For The Environment, retrieved on 23 July 2013 from: http://www.pce.parliament.nz/assets/Uploads/Reports/pdf/treaty_initiative.pdf Read More