Hon Parekura Horomia
Minister of Mäori Affairs

7 March 2007 Media Statement

Access over Maori land a decision for landowners

Public walking tracks across Maori land will be created only if Maori landowners agree and following a process of negotiation if a report released is adopted, says Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia.

Rural Affairs Minister Damien O'Connor today released the Outdoor Walking Access report aimed at ensuring New Zealanders have fair and reasonable access to public land and waterways, including the coastline, rivers and lakes.

The panel which produced the report recommends the establishment of an organisation Te Ara Papatuanuku (The Pathways of Mother Earth), to promote greater public access to some of these areas.

The body would explore opportunities to improve access by Maori to taonga, including important historical and spiritual sites, both through the use of existing access rights such as unformed legal roads and through negotiation and agreeement with private landowners.

Maori land should be treated the same as all private land and any new access would therefore be developed only with the landowners' consent, the report says.

Mr Horomia said Maori land was special and it was important to note that the proposals would not threaten the existing rights of owners of Maori land, or individual Maori who hold land in general title.

The report says Te Ara Papatuanuku would need to consult with Maori on a suitable process for negotiations over Maori land.

Mr Horomia said this would be an imperative if the report , which the Government will now take feedback on, was adopted.

It was important that any move to open access to private land does not result in the desecration of taonga such as wahi tapu and this would be monitorred quickly.

The report calls for a Code of Conduct to be established by the proposed organisation, which would address issues specific to Maori land and which may contain provisions relating to respect of sacred land and compliance with local rahui on the taking of resouces.

The report notes Maori submitters expressed concerns about difficulties accessing taonga on private land or reached by crossing private land.

``Some iwi authorities are already in access negotiations with private landowners over this issue and the establishment of Te Ara Papatuanuku could help facilitiate this process, both in terms of mediation and through the potential provision of compensation, '' Mr Horomia said.

The report says areas where public access on both the foreshore and the dry margin on the beach in unavailable should be considered a priority for negotiated access, which could restore lost access to takutaimoana in some areas, Mr Horomia says.

The panel says it is desirable that where public access margins around water bodies on/or bordering private land have eroded, they should be re-established.

Because of the distinct legal arrangements surrounding Maori land, few water margins were ever created on the lands, Mr Horomia said.

ENDS

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