Labour spin starts to unravel on seabed
“The Labour Party spin, which has been so warmly embraced by some sections of the media, is beginning to unravel around
the foreshore and seabed law,” says National Party Maori Affairs spokesman Gerry Brownlee.
“Today we are getting a glimpse as to why the Government refused to let the public, the media, or any opposing parties
see or discuss the Bill before it was brought before Parliament under urgency,” says Mr Brownlee.
Michael Cullen told the media yesterday that key amendments of the Act included,‘ the removal of ancestral connection
orders … More effective
consultation with local Maori over the coastal area is also being
addressed in the review of the Resource Management Act’.
At the same time the Maori caucus told the public, ‘the Resource Management Act is currently being reviewed and will be
strengthened to recognise more effective consultation with local Maori over coastal areas. Maori caucus believes this
will provide stronger recognition of the traditional association of whanau, hapu and iwi with the coast than the
ancestral connection orders initially provided for in the legislation’.
“The public of New Zealand are fed-up with this Government’s failure to confront Treaty issues in an honest and
transparent way.
“The Government is clearly saying that ancestral connection will be back with a vengeance and will be slipped through
when no-one is looking.
“It’s a contemptuous display of breath-taking arrogance,” says Mr Brownlee.