David Seymour Doesn’t Wave Goodbye To Our Water - a fantasy
Guardians of the Flow - New Zealand Locks Down Its Liquid Taonga
In an age where global investors eye the last clean rivers like speculators once eyed gold, New Zealand has done something extraordinary, it said no.
In a sweeping update to the Overseas Investment Act, the coalition Government, led by Associate Finance Minister David Seymour, has confirmed water is now formally recognised as a taonga, a national treasure with rights, not just a resource with profit potential. Water bottling, once slipping through legal cracks, has been declared a matter of strategic national interest. New protections have been carved into law with the sharp edge of experience and public fury.
“Enough is enough,” Seymour said at the announcement, flanked by iwi leaders and environmental advocates. “We can't keep exporting our future in plastic bottles.”
And just like that, the tides turned.
Under the new regime, any overseas investment proposal involving water extraction - whether for bottling, irrigation or industrial export - must now pass a triple filter -
The Awa Safeguard Test (protecting water sustainability and quality),
The Tikanga Consent Standard (requiring genuine consultation and agreement with mana whenua), and
The Community Equity Clause, which ensures any profit from natural water export must return demonstrable benefit to the local region.
Unlike previous half-hearted attempts to slap a royalty on bottled exports, stymied by trade agreements and political timidity, this new framework reframes the question entirely - not “how much can we charge?” but “should we allow it at all?”
It’s not just water getting a long-overdue legal defence. Forestry, too, has emerged from the legislative mulch with its roots protected. Gone is the ‘special benefit test’ that was easily gamed by foreign investors. In its place is a robust, enforceable Forestry Stewardship Framework -
Mandatory replanting schedules
Verified biodiversity protection zones
Storm resilience slash strategies
Transparent carbon sequestration reporting
For once, we’re not treating our hillsides like chop shops for foreign timber conglomerates.
University of Auckland emeritus professor Jane Kelsey, who once struggled to interpret a previous, vague set of amendments, said this time clarity reigned. “The legislation is not only readable - it’s righteous.”
Economist and former Productivity Commissioner Bill Rosenberg echoed the praise. “This is what it looks like when you balance investment with intergenerational accountability. We’re not closing the door on capital. We’re closing the floodgate on exploitation.”
And that sentiment has filtered down through every aquifer and catchment. In places like Otakiri, Havelock North and Ashburton, where foreign bottlers once applied to siphon off billions of litres, communities gathered for spontaneous celebrations. Karakia were sung at dawn beside restored awa. Schools ran workshops on freshwater ecology. Tamariki created artwork labelled “My River, My Future.”
Perhaps most moving of all was the response from Ngāti Awa, who had long fought the controversial expansion of a Chinese-owned bottling plant in the Bay of Plenty. “This isn’t just about law,” said kaumātua Te Rangiwhakamārama. “It’s about justice.”
Indeed, what once looked like another quiet commodification of the commons has been transformed into a national reaffirmation - water is life, not leverage.
In the words of Seymour himself, who may have finally read the room, or simply realised that selling aquifers doesn’t win elections - “This is not about rejecting global investment. It’s about protecting what makes this country worth investing in.”
May it be so.
COUNTERFACTUAL GOVERNMENT PRESS RELEASE
From the Ministry for Sustainable Prosperity and Environmental Sovereignty
Title: "Refreshing Reform: Protecting Our Waters, Empowering Our Communities"
The Government has today passed landmark legislation strengthening the Overseas Investment Act to protect New Zealand’s freshwater systems and indigenous biodiversity from unsustainable foreign exploitation.
Under the new Strategic Resource Investment Framework (SRIF), all overseas applications involving water extraction will be subject to three core principles -
Te Mana o te Wai – ensuring the health and wellbeing of waterways comes first
Tino Rangatiratanga – recognising mana whenua as decision-makers, not stakeholders
Whakawhanaketanga Rohe – guaranteeing regional economic uplift and ecological restoration
Minister Seymour emphasised that this is not an anti-investment move but a pro-future stance: “We are open for business, not for plunder.”
The Forestry Stewardship Framework (FSF) will similarly ensure any foreign investment in forestry contributes to sustainable land use, requiring comprehensive replanting strategies, slash reduction plans, and transparency on carbon impact.
Together, these reforms position New Zealand as a global leader in regenerative investment, a place where capital serves the commons, not consumes it.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR FROM A PROTECTED ORGANISATION
To the Editor,
For once, I write not in protest, but in gratitude.
Our trust, Waiora Kaiwhatu Collective, was formed to protect the water mauri of Ngāti Kahungunu rohe after years of watching consents granted to offshore bottlers with minimal scrutiny and zero accountability.
Today, that era ends.
The Government’s decision to elevate water to a matter of national and cultural interest is both legally smart and morally correct. For decades, we were told trade rules tied the Government’s hands. But it turns out, where there’s political will, there’s sovereignty.
We are especially heartened by the requirement that iwi consent be sought and respected, not rubber-stamped in a consultation drive-by.
Let this become a model for how we treat all taonga in Aotearoa - not as commodities, but as companions in our shared future.
Nāku iti nei,
Moana Te Whare
Chair, Waiora Kaiwhatu Collective
LETTER TO THE EDITOR FROM A RELIEVED INDIVIDUAL
Dear Editor,
Last year, my daughter asked me why we had to buy water in bottles when it used to just “come from the tap.” I didn’t know what to say. Our town, Ashburton, had watched millions of litres disappear beneath our feet, not for our use, but for export.
But this week, something changed. For the first time in years, I feel proud of a Government decision.
No more backdoor deals. No more “public consultation” announced via email three hours before it closes. This law says - our rivers matter. Our people matter.
I don’t care if the GDP ticks slightly slower. If our grandkids can still drink from the creeks we swam in, then we’ve already won.
Ngā mihi,
Jordan Adams
Ashburton
📞 Phone +64 275 665 682
✉️ Email john.luxton@regenerationhq.co.nz
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