The refreshingly frank local government minister, Kieran McAnulty, said some aspects of the Treaty are not fully democratic. I think he meant to distinguish the Treaty from a definition of democracy that means everything belongs to whoever has the most votes. In modern democracies ‘majoritarianism’ is not fully democratic because a full democracy protects the rights of minorities.

One indisputably protected right guaranteed to Māori in the Treaty is “full, exclusive and undisturbed possession” of stuff they owned in 1840, which is awkward, really, for the way things have been run since.

Controversy about ‘co-governance’, or whatever we call it, zeroes in on a slightly different point. Non-Māori who are happy to return to Māori control over, say, their land and forests, are vexed by Māori having a say in the provision of “my own water or health care”. It’s understandable, not racist, they say, to ask why representatives who are not accountable to me should have a say in services for me.

The reason we do it is that we have to muddle through now, not as if we are in 1840. Separatism would be worse than sharing control over shared resources, so any government will have to share governance of water. Those who tell the public otherwise will eventually disappoint voters with promises they can’t keep.

Josie's Stuff column is here.