Another Call To Put Foreshore Bill On Hold

The shift of fate this morning of the fate of the foreshore legislation to a wrangle between minor political parties NZ First and United Future reinforces the need for the Government bill to be held over until the whole situation has been reviewed by a Royal Commission.

This call has been made again this morning by Willie Te Aho, convenor of the fledgling political grouping, Advance Aotearoa.

"This issue is too vital to peace and harmony among all New Zealanders to come down to political bargaining and points scoring by bit players on the Parliamentary scene," said Mr Te Aho.

"We said last Friday that the government will be putting the cart before the horse if it passes foreshore legislation prior to the deliberations of its proposed Royal Commission. When the government submitted to the Waitangi Tribunal its December foreshore and seabed policy, based on the 'public domain' concept, the tribunal found that the policy, in the tribunal's words, clearly breached the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.

"This morning's spat between the leaders of NZ First and United Future is over that same wording, 'public domain'. This reinforces our view that it will be a wiser course to introduce the legislation as planned tomorrow so that everyone, including the members of the Royal Commission, can see exactly what the government intends, and then allow those intentions to be part of the matters to be reviewed by the Royal Commission, so that all parties can make submissions on whatever is troubling them.

"For the foreshore bill then to lie on the table of Parliament for another couple of years will be no great hardship, in view of the peaceful situation we have enjoyed around our coasts for the past 164 years." Mr Te Aho concluded.

Advance Aotearoa Party

The Advance Aotearoa Party is an independent political party uniting all New Zealanders committed to the vision embodied in the Treaty of Waitangi, and who affirm the promise of that Treaty to respect the rights of all parties who were signatories, including the protection of customary rights of hapu, and the confirmation of equal New Zealand citizenship for all non-Maori settlers who arrived after 1840.

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