Category: Maori Issues
Public submissions on the government’s Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill may now be made until the 19th of November. Then, after those who wish to speak to their submissions have done so, the select committee hearing the submissions will have to report back to parliament towards the end of February. Presumably this overrides the Prime Minister’s statement that the new bill would be passed into law by Christmas.
“Co-management” and “co-governance” are buzz words in government circles. While they sound relatively benign, they are in fact creating a significant shift in the balance of power in New Zealand and as such represent a major constitutional change.[1]
Te Atiawa, a Marlborough iwi, proposes a Maori fishing reserve (mataitai) over 99% of Tory Channel in the Marlborough Sounds. This mataitai takes many rights from many people. It robs our children of their future.
In an astonishing twist of fate, the party that came back from the wilderness on the promise of unifying the country by putting an end to divisive race-based legislation and abolishing the Maori seats is now planning to carve up New Zealand’s coastline to hand it over to selected Maori tribes. The extent of National’s reversal can be seen in the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill that was tabled in Parliament last week.[1]
The worrying thing about being an economist is that every decision becomes an economic decision. It causes paralytic seizures every time I step into a shop. Just ask the wife. But just occasionally, it does give you a socially useful perspective.
New Zealand is at a crossroad between tribalism and democracy. The Maori tribal elite, backed by the Maori Party - and now the National Party - are gaining momentum, pushing the country towards a future where corporate iwi will control our key institutions and resources.
For the last couple of weeks we have been expecting the appearance of the government’s draft foreshore and seabed bill. Usually reliable rumours told us that it would be going to the Cabinet in the last week or two, and would then be introduced to the House. For some reason there has been a delay, and rumour has it that it may be another couple of weeks at least before it is introduced. I know not what the reason may be. It would be nice to think that the government is actually coming to its senses, that the Prime Minister and Attorney-General are actually beginning to realise what a monstrous crime they are proposing to commit, and what the public reaction will be to this theft of our common heritage and solemn recognition that New Zealand is henceforward and increasingly an apartheid state[1].
According to Saturday’s Herald, the co-leader of the Maori Party, Pita Sharples, is trying to save a Black Power gang house from being demolished by the city council because it caters for the spiritual and cultural needs of Maori. He claimed that the Mt Wellington property - which had been the Black Power headquarters and hub of a $1.5 million cannabis ring before being seized and sold under the Proceeds of Crime Act – was sometimes used as a marae.[1]
Almost without a ripple, John Key’s administration is about to table a bill in Parliament that will have far reaching consequences that few can imagine. I am of course referring to the Government’s proposed changes to the foreshore and seabed.
The National-led government’s attempts to sanitize its controversial “remedy” to the Foreshore and Seabed Act (2004) grow ever more curious and contradictory by the day. It is quite clear that the government and Maori interests already do not see eye-to-eye over what the proposed replacement legislation will mean in practice, and that the government cannot hold a consistent line when explaining to the wider public what will happen when Maori tribes lay claims to title over the foreshore and seabed.
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