Monday, 30 August 2004

Maori back UF foreshore position

Maori submitters on the Foreshore and Seabed Bill have confirmed that United Future's solution to the problems raised by the Court of Appeal decision would have been acceptable to Maori, says United Future's Maori issues spokesperson, Murray Smith.

United Future had proposed that the foreshore and seabed be held as public domain, that is, that it be owned by all New Zealanders, both Maori and non-Maori.

Ngahiwi Te Moana, representing Ngati Kahungungu, an East Coast iwi, in answer to a question by Mr Smith, confirmed this morning that if the Government had entered into dialogue with Maori instead of simply imposing its agenda without any real consultation, Maori would have been very receptive to the concept of public domain ownership.

As it was, the proposed Crown ownership, he said, stripped Maori of their rights and allowed the Crown to do whatever they wanted to with the foreshore and seabed, including selling it off to foreign interests.

United Future initially indicated to the Government that it was willing to consider support for the Bill if public ownership rather than Crown ownership was provided for.

The Labour-led Government initially accepted this proposal only to reject it at the insistence of New Zealand First when the Government couldn’t muster adequate numbers to pass the Bill.

ENDS

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