Pacific Support Needed For Foreshore And Seabed Protest
AUCKLAND (PIMA/Pacific Media Watch): A Pacific Island workshop on the Maori foreshore and seabed issue will be held this
weekend during the annual Pacific Island Media Association (PIMA) conference in Auckland.
Guest speaker Maori lawyer Annette Sykes will discuss the background behind the foreshore and seabed issue and why
Pacific peoples should lend Maori their support at the conference at Auckland University of Technology.
"The select committee hearings on the foreshore bill were a farce. The Maori voice has been blocked as only 10% of the
4,000 submissions were heard,² says Sykes. "Hapu (tribes) up and down the country have now seen first hand that the
government is not listening."
The PIMA workshop comes one week before a second protest hikoi in Auckland against the government¹s proposed foreshore
and seabed legislation. Sykes says she will be appealing to all Pacific peoples to endorse the hikoi.
"Auckland has the largest gathering of Pacific peoples in the world and we call on them, our Pacific whanau, and all
peoples of Aotearoa / New Zealand to join Maori in the Hikoi,² she says.
"As we would support their rights to resources in their nations, we ask that they join Maori as we Hikoi to ensure our
rights are upheld. The partnership between Maori and our Pacific whanau is a powerful statement about our collective
indigenous rights."
Sykes says she agreed to speak at the Pacific media conference because of the historical and traditional connections
between Maori and Pacific Island peoples. She has also been invited to speak on the topic around the Pacific and is not
surprised at the regional interest in the issue.
In August, the Pacific Island Media Association held a successful workshop on the Treaty of Waitangi with University of
Auckland senior lecturer, Manuka Henare. This Saturday¹s Foreshore and Seabed workshop will be led by Samoan
facilitator, Peta Siulepa.
+++niuswire
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