A Court of Appeal decision was released last week that will have a profound influence on the future of New Zealand. Poor drafting and a radical application of ‘tikanga’ by the judiciary has delivered the exact opposite outcome from what the public was promised.
The law in question is the Marine and Coastal Area Act (MACA). It was introduced by John Key’s National Government back in 2011 as part of their coalition agreement with the Maori Party. The new law repealed Crown ownership of the foreshore and seabed and opened up the coast for tribal claims.
At the time, the public was assured by the architect of the law change, the Attorney-General Chris Finlayson, that no more than 10 percent of New Zealand’s 20,000 km coastline would end up being controlled by Maori. Those promises have now been proven false.
The Court of Appeal decision will result in virtually the entire New Zealand coastline and Territorial Sea passing into Maori control.
So how did we get to this point where our own government has surrendered a key public domain to tribal interests?
This debacle began in 2003, when a dispute between iwi and a council over a marine farming application escalated to the Court of Appeal. Taking the law into their own hands, the Court’s Ngati Apa decision over-ruled Crown ownership of the foreshore and seabed by finding that pockets of customary interest might still exist.
A resulting flood of claims for the coast, forced Helen Clark’s Labour Government to legislate to restore Crown ownership through the 2004 Foreshore and Seabed Act.
While the new law provided for tribal groups to prove their customary interest in the High Court, there were on-going complaints that the bar was set too high for claims to succeed.
The Maori Party campaigned for a law change, and once in coalition with National, MACA repealed Crown ownership and opened up the coast for tribal claims – either through hearings in the High Court or direct negotiation with the Crown.
The prize was huge: 10 million hectares of the richest natural resources in the country covering the distance between the average spring high tide waterline and the 12 nautical mile Territorial Sea limit, along with the airspace above, the water space, and the subsoil, bedrock and mineral wealth below.
At the time, the Maori Party informed their supporters that the new threshold tests for customary title would work in their favour: “Tests incorporate tikanga allowing for variations among iwi, transfers of rights between hapu, and for tikanga to evolve. Test do NOT require claimants to hold adjoining land (so raupatu iwi can claim customary title). Allowing others to fish, and overlapping rights of neighbouring hapu, do not disqualify claims…”
In other words, the Maori Party was confident that tikanga would be a central consideration in the new law, and as a result, neither historic land confiscations, nor overlapping claims would disqualify claimants.
This was at odds with assurances being made to the public.
We were told the tests to gain a Customary Marine Title (CMT) were high. In section 58(1)(a) of MACA, claimants had to firstly, “hold the specified area in accordance with tikanga”. And secondly, under 58(1)(b), they had to have “exclusively used and occupied the area without substantial interruption from 1840 to the present day.”
Overlapping claims, which were obviously inconsistent with the concept of ‘exclusive’ use, were expected to be ruled out, as were claims for areas of the coast where adjoining land had been confiscated, or where third-party use resulted in substantial interruptions.
Furthermore, since tribal groups had limited ability to navigate far from shore in 1840, it was also expected that few, if any, Territorial Sea claims would succeed.
Claimants gaining CMTs would receive an invaluable property right akin to ownership. This includes a right of veto over all resource consents and conservation activities; involvement in coastal planning and policy development; the ability to charge commercial operators, impose rahui, and restrict public access through wahi tapu; and ownership rights to all non-nationalised minerals – including royalties from existing mining operations, back-dated to when applications were first submitted.
While the law protects commercial fishing, navigation, and public access, as well as existing marine reserves, aquaculture activities, and essential infrastructure operated by the Crown, port companies, and councils, it does not prevent CMT holders from regulating consent applications for expansion plans and other variations.
On the eve of the six-year deadline for MACA claims in April 2017, almost 600 overlapping applications for the entire New Zealand coastline and Territorial Sea flooded in – some 200 for the High Court and the balance for Crown Engagement.
While Maori claimants were offered up to $458,000 to fund their High Court cases, there was no financial assistance available for those wanting to oppose the claims, As a result, despite widespread public concern, opposition to the claims was limited.
That’s when the NZCPR stepped in to raise funds to enable a voluntary community group to oppose the first “Edwards” claim in the public interest.
Our understanding was that none of the multiple applicants for a 44 km stretch of the Bay of Plenty coastline around Opotiki would meet the high MACA threshold for a CMT, and our hope was that ensuring a sensible outcome for the Edwards case would have a precedent effect on all other claims.
However, the High Court ended up awarding three CMT orders – one of them shared between six applicants, and another shared between seven – as well as six orders for the lesser Protected Customary Right for activities such as gathering shells and driftwood.
In his controversial decision, Justice Churchman ruled that ‘tikanga’ outweighed any property-right requirements: “The task for the Court in considering whether the requirements of s 58(1)(a) of the Act have been met is therefore not to attempt to measure the factual situation against western property concepts… The critical focus must be on the question of whether or not the specified area was held in accordance with the tikanga that has been established.”
The Churchman judgment elevated tikanga – which had been determined by Pukenga (cultural advisors engaged by the Court) rather than the Judge himself – above any need to consider the property-rights s 58(1)(b) test. And with ‘tikanga’ defined to include ‘sharing’, any consideration of “exclusive” use of the area was dismissed as irrelevant.
As a result, instead of being ruled out, overlapping claims were accommodated through a new tikanga-based concept of “shared exclusivity”. And “substantial interruptions” were interpreted to mean that small parts of a claimed area might need to be excluded, rather than the claim itself.
Since the High Court ruling delivered the exact opposite of what we expected from the National Party’s assurances about their law change, we appealed the case to the Court of Appeal. It was their decision that has just been released.
The three Court of Appeal Judges delivered a split decision – while they all agreed on the remedies, their reasoning varied.
Our argument was that the Edwards case needed to be sent back to the High Court so the s 58(1)(b) property-rights test of whether claimed areas had been held exclusively and continuously since 1840 could be properly determined by fact and proof.
While the Court agreed with us that two of the three CMT orders should be sent back to the High Court to be re-assessed, it was a hollow victory.
The Court of Appeal decision affirms tikanga as the dominant consideration when assessing CMT applications. As a consequence, the hurdles to gaining title are now so low and self-serving that virtually all of the claims are likely to succeed.
As a result, the entire marine and coastal area of New Zealand will end up under the control of competing Maori tribal groups, which is the exact opposite of what National promised when they introduced the new law in 2011.
What the judgement has highlighted is the danger of including ‘tikanga’ in the law, since it can be interpreted to mean virtually anything at all.
But what is particularly concerning about this case, is that while the Court of Appeal understood our argument that the law should deliver what Parliament intended, they did not agree:
“We have found it exceptionally difficult to reconcile the text of s 58(1)(b) with the purpose of MACA. On a literal reading of s 58(1)(b), and its requirement that the group must have exclusively used and occupied the area from 1840 to the present day, it seems likely there would be few areas of the foreshore or seabed where CMT could be made out. In some areas where the common law would recognise that a group had customary title, incursions into that area over the last 180 years by third parties would deprive the group of CMT… Far from recognising and promoting customary interests, MACA would in many cases extinguish those interests.”
In other words, since the Judges reasoned that doing what Parliament intended would be perceived as unjust and contrary to MACA’s purpose, they interpreted the law in a way that will ensure virtually all of the tribal claims succeed.
As a result, there is now no doubt at all that the Courts will apply the law to the bulk of claims yet to be considered – some 200 in the High Court and 385 awaiting Crown Engagement – in such a way that title to New Zealand’s coastal marine area will pass to Maori.
What is also clear is that they will not be managing their area in the public good but will prioritise controlling the resource for their own financial advantage.
Furthermore, the Court of Appeal has even gone so far as to offer guidance on managing competing applications. While Justice Miller held that the claimant groups would have to apply jointly for a CMT, or at least not openly disagree as to what the relevant tikanga was, President Cooper and Justice Goddard established a new role for the Court – to appoint a trustee to formally hold CMT rights until the groups could work it out ‘in accordance with tikanga’.
In other words, the various claimants to a particular area will in effect have a holding trust through which the area will be managed, with income from CMT rights received and distributed according to an agreed formula.
Since multiple groups expressing an interest in an area will undoubtedly want to exercise their rights to be consulted as affected parties to resource consent applications, the end result, where literally hundreds of tribal groups will all want to be involved so they can clip the ticket, will make managing New Zealand’s coastline virtually impossible.
The bottom line is that since we now know that National’s law change will deliver a disastrous outcome that is the exact opposite of what they promised to the New Zealand public, we believe National now has no option but to put it right by changing the law.
I will leave the final word to this week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator, the former Judge and law lecturer Anthony Willy, who has examined the Court of Appeal finding and agrees that repealing MACA and restoring Crown ownership of the foreshore and seabed is the only way forward:
“This case has a way to travel through the Courts before the law is settled… The costs of this litigation are and will be enormous… Given that the legal costs are being met by the taxpayer except for those opposing the claims (they must meet their own) costs to the applicants will not be a concern. If nothing else, this whole process will become a bonanza for the lawyers and the court lists will be cluttered by such claims for years to come. More importantly the process will create division between competing Maori families and between Maoris generally and other ethnicities. Given the uncertainty surrounding the judgments and their effect on society the only course is to return the foreshore and seabed to Crown ownership where it has resided since 1840.”
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THIS WEEK’S POLL ASKS:
*Should New Zealand’s foreshore and seabed be returned to Crown ownership?
*Poll comments are posted below.
*All NZCPR poll results can be seen in the Archive.
THIS WEEK’S POLL COMMENTS
| It was the inept leadership of John Keys National led government that allowed this situation to arise. The previous act should have been left untouched. | Wayne |
| If this does not occur we will see the racial divide become even greater. The creation of new marine reserves will also become near impossible. | Lynne |
| It should be EVERY new Zealanders right to be able to visit a beach to swim or fish without being hassled by a MINORITY | les W |
| Access to beach and sea areas should be equally available to everyone and not segregated peoples. | Noel |
| Should be reserved for whole population not just a minority. | Tony |
| with the likes of finlayson, do-lttle and the egotistical key giving into the tribal elite they and the corrupt judges who have granted the hories total control on the whole coast line and seabed will cause the next series of wars in NZ so lets hope luxton will rescind all this crap that labour has enabled but I think hes as bad as key so wont hold my breath, so David is our only hope for a sensible govt as NZ first is a loose canon. | Richard |
| The new coalition need to clamp down on this immediately,certainly before Xmas or sooner. Contrbuter Steve has the right idea,Luxon should deputise Seymour and Peters to sort out all this Maori b/shit. That way Maori don`t have to deal with a white man. The new government need to show your average Kiwi they have our interests at heart. Maori need to realise the cash cow has dried up and the country is in big trouble.Your average Kiwi has had a gutsful of paying to fund the lifestyles of a bunch of racist bludgers. The country needs to pull together,if Maori are not prepared to do this then you need to be sent back to where you came from as you are definitely not indigenous to NEW ZEALAND. | Brian |
| We are all one. Do not divide | Marilyn |
| obviously the courts are biased and are attempting to make laws when that is the job of parliament | Gay |
| This area belongs to everybody. | Peter |
| The only fair and equitable way | Jaki |
| Absolutely! It should be enjoyed by all inclusively. | Annie |
| Outrageous waste of taxpayers’ money and no wonder the productivity no. is so low with wasting time, money and effort on this mumbo-jumbo. If Maori had to pay for the legalities themselves, it would not happen. | Monica |
| Returned to Crown ownership for sanity and common sense is the only way to go. | Eric |
| Most definitely | William |
| Yes definitely. The seabeds & foreshores should remain in Crown ownership and open to NZ’s population. | Elizabeth |
| It seems the only reasonable thing to do is to return the foreshore and seabed to Crown ownership. This would eliminate a huge amount of resentment between Maori and non-Maori and between Maori and Maori . It would also relieve the tax payer from footing the massive bill and ensure that all New Zealanders and visitors can enjoy our coast free from the ridiculous privelage that comes with ownership | Rob |
| It should be returned to Crown Ownership! This is scullduggery and corruption by the applicants. The National Law that allowed this was a farce! | Valerie |
| New Zealand’s foreshore and seabed should be returned to Crown ownership to enable all New Zealanders and visitors, no matter their ancestral heritage, to have free access to our foreshore and seabed. | Bonnie |
| New Zealand’s foreshore and seabed must be returned to Crown ownership. Failure to do so will cause further division of the the people and will undoubtedly lead to violence. The people will not tolerate any other outcome as it is not justifiable. | Robert |
| all should be free to enjoy our coasts | John |
| We are one people. Giving ownership to one people group creates division. | Aileen |
| New Zealand’s foreshore and seabed should be for the pleaser and use of everyone, not just a particular race of people. | Roy |
| It must be, or another step towards separation by race will be undertaken. Where will it end? | Roger |
| All Kiwis should have the same access to land and water. It’s called sharing and living together | jean |
| When Finlayson was promoting this concept and we objected at public meetings he called us idiots. Good faith would prevail. Few if any claims would succeed. He was clearly told it was bullshit but he , in his smarmy way, looked down on us as if we were some form of alien rather than tax paying citizens. He also had a significant conflict of interest having represented Maori interests as their legal council. This matter needs to be sorted out and quickly. There will be cries of anguish from those in favour but it hasn’t cost them anything up to now to submit their exaggerated and spurious claims to occupancy since whenever. National created the problem. National should fix it with, I’m sure, willing support from ACT and NZ First | Mike |
| Yes is the obvious answer if we are going to move on. | Lewis |
| Justice Churchman and all the other corrupt judges need to be removed by our new govt. Treasonous bunch of mutants. Also the media fund stopped immediately. Where’s the media story regarding foreshore and seabed are about to be handed to part maori radicals. Their court costs funding also needs to be stopped. This is unbelievable and racist. | Kevin |
| Absolutely, as long as the Crown maintains representation for ALL New Zealanders and is not any minority faction. | Angela |
| This will be a good test on National’s ability to resolve! | Reg |
| theses judges need to resign giving Maori allowing them a strategy to take over the country getting closer to being aparthrid. | Barry |
| I hate to say this but Helen Clark was correct. | Errol |
| All New Zealanders should be able to access the foreshore and seabed. If it’s handed over to just Maori it will have a devastating effect on the people of NZ. Return it to the Crown is a must to avoid tribal rule | Allan |
| now!!! | graham |
| Should never had been changed. Finlayson has a lot to answer for, as does Key. | David |
| It’s every kiwi’s | Bruce |
| Absolutely yes John Key should never have rescinded the foreshore and seabed act enacted by Helen Clarke. The foreshore is New Zealand’s biggest playground for all ages and ethnicities. It is a facility for the enjoyment of everyone and should not be dedicated to one ethnic and rascist group. All the industrial and commercial development in this country provide benefit to all New Zealanders. All roads, footpaths, electricity generation and lines network distribution All water storage and treatment systems together with distribution to this entire country effluent disposal systems through the nations network of sewage treatment and dispersal systems. All telecoms system and communications networks including all fibre networks and satellite receiver networks are implemented for the benefit of all residents all hospitals and medical staff are employed by this government and are to attend to the needs of every member of this democratic society. Any claim or designation of ownership or alienation of the seabed and foreshore from the democratic members of this society have not been from a democratically elected body sanctioned by a referendum representing the democratic interests of the people who sanction by referendum that such an outright denial of the rights of foreshore and seabed ownership is transferred by a majority decision to do so by the people who hold freehold ownership granted by the crown and pay rates as land owners to the representatives of the crown appointed as the local body governments of this country . No referendum granting approval by a majority of ratepayers has consented to such a high handed dictatorial edict to deny ownership of the foreshore and seabed to the people of this land. No treaty terms or idiom granted ownership under the original treaty which granted or implied that the native tribes of New Zealand would hold ownership of the foreshore and seabed to the exclusion of the Crown who represented the interests collectively of the colonising people of this country | terrence |
| It is long past time for the population of New Zealand to be regarded as one people. Divisive court rulings based on ethnicity must stop. One nation and one law | Anthony |
| TOW legislation was to unite all peoples as one nation. Now TOW is being used to divide New Zealand / Aotearoa. | james |
| An example of MMP where the small tail wags the big dog. Enough is enough. It got to end. | martin |
| The NZ foreshore and seabed should be owned by the Government and open for the pleasure of ALL New Zealanders | Murray |
| The Foreshore and seabed must remain under Crown ownership for all New Zealanders to enjoy, no matter who they are and from where they came. Free access to these resources must be retained. This is what we need to entice & encourage overseas tourists. Maori ownership will bring about many problems and restricted access can only lead to detrimental outcomes. National need to change the law back to its original standing, ASAP! | John |
| It is the only sensible way to get NZ out of this debacle. The concept was very divisive right from the start and after the antics of the Ardern government the country needs to come together not be further divided. | Derek |
| I am totally opposed to the concept of Maori owning and controlling our seabed and shores. | Sylvia |
| Absolutely, it should be available to all people. The issue will turn it into a war | kaye |
| Wow. This is a can of worms if it proceeds without being challenged ! | Terry |
| LET’S PUT AN END TO THIS NONSENSE! THE FORESHORE AND SEABED BELONGS TO ALL NEW ZEALANDERS!!! | Sylvia |
| Forthwith | Richard |
| Giving the coastal areas over to Maori Tribal control will have huge repercussions to industry, the various Maori communities and the rest of the people of New Zealnd. These areas need to be held by the Crown | Dianne |
| Otherwise every New Zealander will identify as Maori and launch their own claims. Farce. | Kenneth |
| How bloody absurd a situation is this. We know Maori will pillage the resources, and take this opportunity to screw us royally for access to the foreshore that is our birthright. | Peter |
| Definitely the Maoris have more than enough all ready Our country is getting very racist unfortunately | Barbara |
| Stop divisive rulings by our Courts with Judges who fit the WOKE brigades wishes!! | David |
| Absolutely ! What a disastrous outcome foe New Zealand and for Maori themselves if the whole coastline passes to Maori. What is wrong with these Judges? Get rid of Tikanga | K |
| absolutely yes! | caroline |
| The new National government needs to look into this as a matter of priority | James |
| No government in office yet…..so what will radical Maori do to maintain the Maorification agenda, now that the Marxists have been BOOTED OUT?? | David |
| The Foreshore and Seabed in NZ belongs to ALL NEW ZEALANDERS , NOT only the Maori’s | Pierre |
| All of the assets, that belong to the people of NZ, HAVE BEEN STOLEN , BY STEALTH…..By our PROPRIETORS, OF BOTH LABOUR AND NATIONAL !! | David |
| No one should own public beach’s or foreshore. Our quality of life should be up held, that we can go to our nearest beach and enjoy the sands and water. I agree controls should be kept in place for fishing and not to deplete shell fish | Barbara |
| It is a natural resource for ALL New Zealanders to enjoy and benefit from. | Teresa |
| utterly ridiculous to do otherwise | Brian |
| Yes it is a must | PHILLIP |
| Promises to the public should be upheld and the coastline must be for all New Zealands to share – not have racial priority | Robin |
| All people in New Zealand should be entitled to have access to all coastal areas. Coastal areas, foreshore and seabed, and all related area above and below need to be owned by the Crown, for equitable access by all. | Nola |
| These Maori’s are totally out of control’ I for one have had a total gutsful of these ongoing preposterous grabs. be nice if you own beachfront property putting up with these bludgers in the future! | Brent |
| what a balls up | Robin |
| We have a rogue “judicial” system and rogue “judges” | Peter |
| And then we will all be equal. | jo |
| Years ago they wanted to own the airways to have control of radio broadcasting. | Tom |
| Yes. If I’ve got it right there was an attempt to sort an issue for a few who can’t agree. Which has developed into disadvantage for all. Return to the Crown is the only option and then all have equal advantage Gross stupidity and pandering Has again raised its deranged head | Bruce |
| I am of Arawa/Ngapuhi descent and absolutely believe that our beaches, foreshore and seabeds belong to ALL New Zealanders! | Robyn |
| YES YES YES. | Ian |
| Absolutely no question | steve |
| How on earth has this crazy court decision happened. This rubbish is never ending. What’s next. | john |
| What a total whuckup. | Sven |
| It should be available for the enjoyment and use of all New Zealanders. | Tim |
| Yes it should. This is totally out of control. Put it back into Crown ownership so everyone can access and enjoy our coastline. Non-Maori will be shut out for sure – beaches are already being closed. | Eileen |
| Lawmaking and subsequent appiication must be to the benefit of ALL. New Zealanders, not just some. | Bruce |
| Bloody idiot activist judges bringing further racial tensions to all New Zealanders. | Jim |
| No question ! | Robyn |
| Belongs to all NZers | Gordon |
| This must be done now! | Mark |
| Anything other than this is unjust! | Maurice |
| It never should have been out of Crown ownership! We all know Maori are not indigenous as they came here by boat as all our ancestors did. Stop the racism NOW!!! | Chris |
| I’m not sure how some of these judges got their law degree, as they don’t seem to know what a contract is. Hopefully the new government will take their jobs seriously and make sure that the judiciary understands, that Parliament makes the law, not lawyers. | Hugh |
| Absolutely! | May |
| Here we go again. This is all about contestable unwritten Maori law versus the Law of the Land. And the Law of the Land is about equality for the People of the Land. In other words…Everyone! This unverifiable and undemocratic race-based claim must be crushed. New Zealand belongs to the People…not one race of people. | Rob |
| Return, the stolen assets, and foreshore to the PEOPLE OF NEW ZEALAND , NOW !!! | David |
| The law change made by National was one of the biggest mistakes ever. The foreshore and seabed needs to return to the Crown ie the people of this country. | Wayne |
| The new government must take immediate action to remove any doubt re public ownership of our coastline!!! | Roger |
| Is there any full DNA tested Maori in this country, how can some one say they are Maori if their DNA is say 3 percent , how can you claim one thing when you are not | Arthur |
| joint governmentship will solve many problems. | lorraine |
| Successive governments have cow-towed too much to Maori. It’s time to halt this madness giving control to a minority. | Neil |
| Failing to do so will result in reverse Apartheid. being acceptable to this country and ripping the nation further apart | Brianb |
| Not to do so would become a racist nightmare. | John |
| There are certain areas in a country that must remain under the direct control of the Crown and Foreshore/Seabed is one of them. This is vital for stability and security of our borders and for the sustainability of fish species in our surrounding oceans. The control and protection of this area is necessary for the eternal benefit of ALL New Zealanders – current and future. | Martin |
| Who was the irresponsible twit that got us here in the first place.unbelievable | David |
| It should never have been given away in the first place. | Graham |
| Thanks Finlayson, you weirdo and Key, you treacherous prick. And to think you are now coaching Luxon to continue the destruction of NZ. Luxon, grow a spine, the public of NZ employ you to act on our behalf. Do your bloody job! Your new Govt must reverse this judges decision and return the foreshore and seabed to ALL New Zealanders. | Carolyn |
| bloody right it should | Robert |
| NZ’s foreshore and seabed definitely should be returned to Crown ownership. | Jacqueline |
| Crazy situation | Patrick |
| Of course | Steve |
| No-one owns the land sea or air. We only temporarily get to use it while we are alive. | lyn |
| Only one answer to the question here, and it is in the affirmative. | Neil |
| Absolutely | Colin |
| KISS, keep it simply sensible, One for all and all for one with the point being good guardianship of our foreshore and seabed ad infinitum | Nicola |
| National’s original sin should not be allowed to stay extant. The seashore and national waters should go back to Crown ownership. If there is to be more legal challenging, objectors should get the same funding as proponents. | Hugh |
| This area should be available for all New Zealanders not just Maori | Chris |
| Disgraceful. No one group should own a beach, it is our birth right to have free access! | Kate |
| We are ONE people, make it for EVERYBODY, regardless of race. | Ngaire |
| Most definitely. The sea shore and coastline has to revert to CROWN ownership. There were other races here before the Maori. Please PM Luxon and MP’s DO the RIGHT ALL NZ people. NOT for one race only. | Robina |
| WTF has this country come to? If the incoming government had any balls they would repeal this nonsense. But I’m not holding my breath. | Chris |
| Quite frightening really that this should have gone so far astray and out of control | Barbara |
| Urgent matter. | Jill |
| Chris Finlayson should be held up for treason against the people of New Zealand. This seabed and foreshore must be returned to Crown Ownership | Claire |
| And why shouldn’t it? It is part of New Zealand and owned by it’s people. Just like water – no one owns the water it is natural occurrence. | Denis |
| Crown ownership meaning its for all to use? If so thats a more positive future for our kids and their kids | Aidan |
| Sooner the better ,lets put theses claims to bed once and for all | Barry |
| How many “Maori” are full blood alive at this time? If none, then who has “tikanga” rights?? | John |
| Absolutely. It should be for ALL NZers. | Christine |
| This is going to get out of hand rather smartly, and it is to be hoped that the incoming Government will put a stop to it “toot sweet”! Kevan | Kevan |
| True Maori people I suspect exist only in very very small numbers – perhaps maybe 5% with more than 30% blood running through their veins. It is pure madness that anyone can choose to be a Maori person. There must be some sort of rule that Government/ Treaty Commission can produce that Mr Smith or Jones does not qualify as a Maori – even though he claims to have 5% Maori blood running through his veins. It’s madness. | Frank |
| This situation could be advanced by Winston Peters taking the lead on this, as previously stated. Luxon needs to wake up to what has been going on and URGENT attention should be encouraged – this is an example that does not conform to what the OWaitangi Treaty stated that we were all be treated equally regardless of ethnicity. | Marga |
| The Appeals Court ruling, and the recent Parliamentary travesty on which it is based, are outrangeous. | William |
| Let’s hope the national party has the will to undo this piece of poor law making | David |
| Otherwise, the Court is making decisions on race and democracy is lost. | Diana |
| Stop racism now! Polynesian kiwis have no more rights than any other! | Chudleigh |
| And the customary Chain above High water. As well the rights to any minerals under the soil, oil, gas, gold etc. By Act of parliament. | Lionel |
| In 1840 the tribal chief accepted the adoption of British common law for all. Therefore, accepted the foreshore. was common space. | James |
| the sooner the better | Joan |
| Absolutely | Tony |
| Race should not be the basis for any law or property rights | Frank |
| NZ foreshore is a NZ heritage. It is part of who we are. It’s is for all NZers. | Bruce |
| If this is allowed to continue it will spread through all land and property very quickly also and all ownership will fall into an Eletise group.Wake up New Zealand | Carl |
| It belongs to all NZ not just one race | Suzanne |
| Emphatically YES access to Foreshore and seabed should be free for ALL New Zealanders, and visitors, to enjoy. | Kevin |
| It’s got nothing to do with Maori. For years Kiwis have just accepted Maori are indigenous to NZ until now. It is easy to prove Maori are just another bunch of people who arrived here after previous people. We have given into Maori for far too long, time to wake up NZ and they be treated the same as anybody else. The rain, foreshore and seabed is all ours. Good article Muriel. | Chris |
| Yes,Yes,Yes | Mark |
| The Foreshore is for all New Zealanders o enjoy. Not select few based on race. To allow this is Apartheid. Haven”t we as a country learnt anything from what happened in South Africa | Peter |
| What happened to the Queen’s chain ? | Yvonne |
| Should be done first thing once me govt is formed. | Vhs |
| Absolutely, it never should have moved, however typical Kiwi apathy is as much to blame as any perceived plot. NZrs need to learn that no politician can be trusted. | Shane |
| Stupid | Leigh |
| Since a National govt started this mess, the new National govt should fix it! Even Labour under Helen realised the potential disastrous outcomes of other than Crown ownership of our coastline. | Dennis |
| Thanks National for giving Maori the Foot in the door to claim our beaches The Maori-activists will have a ball with this snafu snafu | Ian |
| There is no option for National but to change the law. If the current situation is allowed to remain it affects the territorial boundary of the country and thus also who has the right to defend it if under threat from an outside aggressor | Julian |
| definitely | valerie |
| All New Zealanders should have access to the foreshore and sea | Rex |
| We must not let one race take ownership of the coastline. | Dianne |
| NZ foreshore has always been used by all Nzers, not just Maori. When are Maori going to become NZers? | Ian |
| Definitely!!! | Evelyn |
| Should always be in public ownership otherwise think of the risk if it was ever sold for profit! | Chrs |
| Finlayson is one of New Zealand’s most pathetic political traitors and should be charged with ‘Treason’….sucked in by the maori elites . What a low life. | Christopher |
| Of course New Zealand’s foreshore must be returned to Crown ownership. | Peter |
| It must be returned to all kieo | Greg |
| absolutely. It belongs to no one individually and everyone in NZ | Rita |
| Definitely. | Allan |
| Should have been done ages ago | ROB |
| Tikanga means to take and not share, a tribal custom Maori used to claim anything they took from other hapu’s and have a brutal history of agression and trickery which included cannabalism on a scale never seen before. A people who wiped out people before them, the moa, huia and other species who now take paua and kina by the ute load on a customary right document signed by koro down at the pub for a 21st party. Customary Right is the greatest hoodwink of the modern age based soley on facism. | Mark |
| The Maori are owed NOTHING as they were not the first people in NZ. Their claims are as malicious as they are false. | Noel |
| What a chaotic mess. The foreshore should never have been taken out of Crown ownership. All public land is Crown Land and it must be returned to the Crown. Maoris have always demanded ownership so that they can prevent Non Maoris from accessing their land. Then they can charge fees for anyone other than Maoris to go to the beach for a swim or picnic. It is the same reasoning that they want ownership of water so we pay them every time we turn on a tap. No one owns water or the foreshore. End of story. | CHRIS |
| The crown has the interest of all New Zealanders not a select bunch of Racists who want to ruin the country and take us back a century. | Ken |
| There is no question that it should but will National repeal the present ongoing nonsense | Andrew |
| The ACT party should make this one of its essential coalition requirements. | Paul |
| Beongs to all New Zealanders each with equal rights Sick of all this Maori Elite greed, Maori racist radicals and their B S dividing our Country and people Discrimination and fraud in my opinion. Sick of wasteful taxpayers money being spent on one race when we have 160 cultures in New Zealand | Julie |
| All this nonsense of these marine titles being claimed over by separate iwi & hapu in the same area can best be stopped by the new Govt repealing all these laws that relates to this debacle. National had better come to the party on this otherwise they might….might have a civil war on their hands & it won’t necessarily be “white v brown”, it could well be “brown v brown” & all could get very nasty…! | Bruce |
| And not before time to sort this whole mess out. | Mike |
| Absolutely !!!!!!!!!!! The WHOLE of NZ owns both of them. | Alan |
| Yes it belongs to all New Zealanders | Muriel |
| Send this to ACT | Clive |
| Immediately, no qualms, no argument… That landmass belongs to no-one as an asset, how on earth except by tribal UNWRITTEN prior agreement could such a thing, ever be, or I’m going to bid for the Air around us all… The $10 per day fee will help somewhat to pay for my groceries… Well, some of them… Not even going to mention the price of potatoes GROWN HERE in NZ… would now cost (in my mad world) a whole day of just one person paying my breathing Tax. Ridiculous notion… Owning the 22 chains… Or is that just the rivers, after 12 Waters… I had a feeling that even my tears were going to be claimed and catalogued for tribal taxing! And the way this absolute mess WAS (HOPEFULLY) going the coffers would overflow for these tribal elites. CROOKS one and all …screwing the system so hard their head will come off. In that lay a wish! | Graham |
| This Court of Appeal decision is ridiculous in the extreme. | David |
| Tribal rights and excesses are not what NZ is about. We are a country for ALL people, or should be. End of story. | Michael |
| Should never have gone from Crown ownership in the first place. Unbelievable!!! | Gail |
| My father spent 5 years of his life away in the 2nd world war so we could have this country free to enjoy . He would not like what is happening with the Maoris claiming the country back | Garry |
| Certainly should. The coastline should be “owned” by all New Zealanders and this can only be accomplished by Crown ownership. | Keith |
| Crown land should remain in the ownership and for the benefit of all New Zealanders. | Ian |
| 100% with all NZ Citizens having equal “ownership” regardless of colour, race, creed etc etc | Francis |
| Warring Maori interests have always and will always be destructive for New Zealand. Follow the money would become the mantra if Maori interests control our beaches and coastline plus New Zealanders would find themselves excluded from recreational fishing and use of our beaches. how in god’s name can that even be considered? | Helen |
| The foreshore and seabed should not have been taken out of public ownership. National minister Chris Finlayson’s law change has been disastrous and the public has no idea of what is happening as the media no longer reports these issues. Anyone speaking out against this is labelled a racist. The foreshore and seabed should be taken back under Crown control. Seymour could lead the charge, but whether Luxon and Peters would support him is doubtful. | Gavin |
| The foreshore and seabed must be returned to public ownership so that our coastline is freely accessible to all New Zealanders. | Pamand Roger |
| Lets stop all this nonsense. New Zealand belongs to all people. The Rivers and the Coast line belong to the People of New Zealand. People of All ethnicities built this Country into what it is. Time to move on, we have bigger fish to fry than fighting among ourselves | Frank |
| Definitely. | Bryan |
| Right away. No more messing around. It should never have left Crown ownership. What is going to happen to port land? | Paloma |
| Yes, John Key had no right to hand it over to the Maoris. This has caused separatism here in New Zealand. Here in New Zealand we are all one people. | William Clive |
| Without question and the sooner the better. | Colin |
| Absolutely must be! N Z does not want, and cannot risk allowing decisions like this creating racial division in our country! It has to be blocked! | Hugh |
| Of course it should. Maori’s are the ‘mongrels of the Pacific’. Have been for over 1000 years. Plus, they’re a conquered race. Lucky to be all alive with good Social Welfare too. | Simon |
| It should be owned by the Cown for the enjoyment of all New Zealanders. Giving ownership to Maori will open up all sorts of claims and counterclaims, and possibly restricted access to NZ’s playground. | Selwyn |
| The foreshore and seabed should be owned by the Crown and therefore have access freely available to all New Zealanders. | Gifford |
| Yes, of course it should. BUT standbye for one hell of a scrap. You ain’t seen nuffin yet! God Defend NZ | Bruce |
| This belongs to all NZers. | mary |
| Absolutely it should be owned by The Crown. | Elizabeth |
| There should be no question. The foreshore belongs to everyone. Maori are seeing money. That is their motivation. | Richard |
| If there is one thing I am thoroughly sick of it is the constant maori claims for everything. It’s a pity the Europeans arrived when they did. Left to their own devices the tribes would have decimated each other. Today they are making claims on things they never knew existed, aided and abetted by one eyed judges and academics. Our whole academic world and judiciary need cleaning out, they aren’t there to make the law they are there to follow it, but they aren’t, and to add insult to injury we are expected to pay for these leaches. | Merryl |
| Ownership must return to the Crown for the benefit of ALL New Zealand citizens. | Joseph |
| Poorly drafted legislation should be repealed. Chris Findlayson should have insisted that the correct legislation was drafted for all New Zealanders. | Rod |
| A minority race should never own all rights to land, air and sea that surrounds an Island. Owned by all NZers. | nick |
| The Crown must own the foreshore and seabed. It was here when the Maori arrived, they did not bring it with them. | Gayle |
| Absolutely. Otherwise, we are ‘landlocked’ in our own country. | Fred |
| It is a must | Nev |
| Most definitely Yes | John |
| Crown ownership is the only way forward to ensure Public access and use for all of us now and for future generations | John |
| The judiciary are corrupted by maori radicals !!! | Brian |
| absolutely. The last thing we need is tribal warfare over land & resoources – the very thing Maori signing the ToW intented to stop | Mark |
| it belongs to everyone, not just one group!! | Chris |
| The foreshore and seabed must remain in the ownership of all New Zealanders – to ALL of us, with equal access and equal rights of legal usage. Any alternative will foster division and mistrust.. | Rodger |
| Immediately. Yes, this is another very high priority for the new Government. And tikanga should be expunged from the legal language of New Zealand. It is a bottomless can of worm and will destroy this country. | Malcolm |
| you need to ask??.?.? | murray |
| No one should control access to what belongs to all New Zealanders & visitors. I have experienced that model o’seas and it’s terrible. Paying exorbitant tolls and denial of access must not be our future. | Christina |
| The judge should be disciplined | chris |
| For all New Zealanders | Dennis |
| Churchman corrupt decision!! It should remain in all Kiwi’s hands and not only Maori!! | Neil |
| Absolutely | Mark |
| The Queen’s Chain (now King’s I suppose) was always a wonderfully reassuring right to be able to visit coastline beaches etc accessible by land or sea. Although there were limitations such as lack of access over private land and the perceived need to restrict access to port facilities, the idea that the coastline was owned by the state for the common good added a lot to psychological wellbeing, sense of egalitarianism and social cohesion. Very foolish to dispose of all those benefits. One example was seafarers who had no anxiety about rowing to shore to enjoy the beach, to explore or to get water. Now they will be frightened to do so with the possibility they will be threatened or worse by a group of self-entitled Maori ordering them to leave because they are disrupting the wairua or some such thing but actually simply being racist, parochial and selfish. And remember, this will apply to Maori from all iwi or hapu other than those ‘owning’ that particular piece of shoreline. Ironically, this will vastly extend the imposition of versions of European land ownership models by legally formalizing in writing certain rights for some and depriving everyone else of them, enforcing this through state power. To be true to tikanga the model would be that anyone can control the resource for as long as they can violently repel intruders. The result of the current events will be reduced quality of life for all plus a lot of resentment, conflict and almost certainly violence. | John |
| This silly little country has literally returned to the Dark Ages- hardly a bravo moment | Siobain |
| The NZ Foreshore and Seabed belongs to ALL New Zealanders, Not Only Maori !! | Pierre |
| Clearly this is the solution. | Ronald |
| No one person or tribe can have ownership | Colin |
| Rge seabed and foreshore cannot be sold….htere is no ‘title’, so it must be owned by the people—through the Crown. | Adrian |
| Absolutely 100% | Ross |
| the sooner the better or NZ will have huge problems | graeme |
| Defiantly, they (Maori) have no more rights then we (European) have, they are not the Indigenous people, they came here like everybody else , Period | Tont |
| should never change | gerard |
| Foreshore and seabed belongs to ALL New Zealanders!!!!!! | Alf |
| Also call for the removal of the judges whose fingerprints are over the transfer to Maori ownership. | Tony |
| National MUST change the Law so this cannot happen. Politicians must stop PACIFYING Maori and stand against this unjust ruling. | Peter |
| The shoreline is a national asset – return it to the people | tony |
| Absolutely. We need a campaign to put pressure on National to make the necessary law changes to return the foreshore to crown ownership. | Philip |
| The “Crown” represents every citizen, and therefore Crown ownership of NZ’s foreshore and seabed guarantees free and open access access by all to it. | Tony |
| The duplicitousness of Finlayson has never been in doubt in my mind, but it seems to have taken years for it to have become so obvious. He was employed by Maori interests, and here is the pay-off! | Mike |
| This will stop the future arguments around which hapu/Iwi is the rightful owner and should be in charge. | Mark |
| And make the maori meet their own legal costs | |
| Should always have been so. | William |
| What notice do the politicians take of these polls. John key opened the door on this one and there will need to be a lot of pressure on Luxon to reverse it | Arthur |
| Absolutely! | Rosemary |
| The Court’s decision is craczy The owners theoretically can charge a royalty for any flight or ship permission to use the air and water space like a 10 Km wide CFENCE round NZ | STAN |
| Definitely ASAP | David |
| But, unfortunately it will cause a civil war so in reality, either way the laws go will be a disaster for NZ. | Hilary |
| Lets end this racism and apartheid now. | Grant |
| Using taxpayer money to promote racial division is idiotic. | Adam |
| Begs the question – what (or who) is Crown ownership now? | Deb |
| How on earth did it get to this? | Barry |
| the other access will be by air….missiles, for exanple. Would maori like that…. | Margaret |
| Maori have no rights to our coast than eny one else | John |
| It should never have been given up | Peter |
| They belong to all kiwis | Gaye |
| Time his nonsence o stop .There are no Maori’s left only descendant s of and the shouldnt have any more rights than all others who live in New Zealand .Equality should be the norm | Colleen |
| Really – if ever there was a reason for the law to be seen as an ass – this has to be it. | Maurice |
| The “bench” is full of elitist academics that are imposing their personal bias views and beliefs and not acting within their bounds of the law and legislation! | Alan |
| Politicians should be guided by common sense rather than by transient political expediency. | Peter |
| THIS ISSUE SHOULD BE GIVEN URGENCY BY the new government | Margaret |
| No one should own the rights to foreshore & seabed except Gov.t. The only exception being riparian rights in very few isolated places. | Nick |
| This has GOT to be the biggest joke in history, why don’t we all just leave New Zealand and come back later, as there are no full blooded Maori we wouldn’t have nothing to bicker about and could live in peace and harmony again, as soon as we see their canoes on the horizon sink them as we are all now well aware they are not a peace loving tribe. | Laurie |
| Money wasted on stupidity who goes to prison? | Anthony |
| The ownership of the foreshore should remain in the Crowns ownership for the benefit of all NZ citizens & not just one race as we are all equal. | Roydon |
| it most certainly should | Mary |
| Foreshore should be accessible to all New Zealanders | Rodger |
| What National did under Keys leadership and that whimp Finnylson was never going to work and the Maori where going to claim all of the coast of New Zealand for their own selfish gains. So lets return all to the Crown and shut Maori out. | ken |
| i just cannot believe that such a law has been passed the responsibility must lie firmly on the shoulders of all members of parliament to have allowed this pass. This bill should have demanded 90% of parliament members present with a minimum of 65 % in Favour to become law. Also there should have been a national vote. A minority must not be allowed to rule. | Ivan |
| We are continuing further down the racial divide of this country. | Linton |
| It only occured by the then National Party currying favour with the Maori Party. If it is not resolved it will create widespread ill feeling amongst the population. | Dennis |
| The Crown should ‘hold’ the foreshore and seabed for the use and enjoyment of ALL New Zealanders. | J J |
| We should all be one people with equal rights. | DAVID |
| Winston Peters and David Seymour should be appointed by Chris Luxon to sort out all outstanding problems with Maori claims.This would prevent Maori having to deal with a white New Zealander. | Steve |
| Just further dividing the country the Maori are mostly European the courts are not interpreting the intent. The tribes will scrap over the coastline assets and everyone will be poorer. | John |
| The Foreshore and Seabed belongs to ALL New Zealanders’ | Mike |
| What a dog’s breakfast! | Dave |
| Judge Willy is right | David |
| No brainer isn’t it? It should be and remain in Crown ownership for the benefit of ALL New Zealanders! Ask Winston – he will sort it. | John |
| If you want an argument, pick another subject | Bob |
| Yes it should seabed and foreshore belong to all not to individual groups | Carl |
| Total no-brainer !!! | Bruce |
| Urgently | Clive |
| Thanks for fighting this very important issue! | Gordon |
| The sea and lake shores should belong to all New Zealanders | Dennis |
| This is Nationals own suicide wish. Findlayson should be banished from NZ, | JOHN |
| Control of our foreshore must be government controlled and not be dictated by one group (Maori) when it comes down to it one could say to the Maori activists you can’t drive on the roads designed and built by other people (New Zealanders) and just let your imagination run for a bit where this concerns other infrastructure etc. | Owen |
| Of course | Jenny |
| most certainly it is part of all New Zealander’s, to be charged or stopped going is outrageous & will cause nothing but racial tension & violence. | NIGEL |
| New Zealand Judges appear to have done what they want, setting precedent by ignoring the INTENT of the written Law. Hold the radical activist judges to account, surely they are not above the law?? Something is rotten in our legal system | Sam |
| How else can we become one country again? | Brian |
| Yes ! – For all NZer’s, NOT just a select few.Leon | Leon |
| Yes, of course – created by yet another blunder from the National Party – but will they have the guts to do this? You all should have voted for ACT. | Scott |
| This is the final straw for all non-Maori NZers – and we have just elected another National led government that allowed this to happen. Let’s hope and prey that NZ1st and Act can force National to stop this nonsense AND most importantly put the claimants on the same footing as the objectors – pay your own bloody costs !! | John |
| The Treaty that the Maori signed in 1840 included the whole of New Zealand. There are no full blooded Maori now. Why are there Maori Electoral seats now. | Donald |
| IT’S SUCH A TREASURE TO EVERY KIWI, IT’S GOT TO BE EVERY KIWIS RIGHT TO PLAY, VISIT AND ENJOIY NOT JUST A GIVEN FEW | Stephen |
| But doesn’t the criteria for a claim say they have to have had exclusive rights to the particular area since 1840? That should be enough to halt most of it. | Maree |
| YES,YES, It should never had happened in the first instance! | William |
| No one should own it, we ALL have a responsibility to care for it, this has been done by stealth, has to be righted. | Colleen |
| This is a no brainer decision. The Tribal Elite of just two Tribes are behind this, following their Greedy Agenda of Co-Governance. Support them taking, illegally, the Foreshore and Seabed and you’re supporting a potential Civil War !! | Geoff |
| This needs to be done immediately. We do not need a new government to procrastinate, get it done NOW. | david |
| Ethnicity should not be a consideration that divides New Zealanders. Politicians need to stop their blatant ra ism and racist laws. | Peter |
| It should never have left Crown ownership. Chris Finlayson has a lot to answer for | Doug |
| Why are our lawmakers and judiciary so corrupt as to believe what they are doing is in the best interest for all New Zealander’s,or does financial gain rule. | Rob |
| Remember: ” we are now all ONE people” NO APARTHEID IN NEW ZEALAND !!!!!!!! | Honest Dave |
| National now need to change the law to restore the original intention and fix their stuff up. | Peter |
| yes and asap | antony |
| Very definitely!! | Murray |
| completely and utterly only crown ownership. | Wayne |
| This is against the treaty principles. | Michael |
| This is against the spirit of the treaty. | Heather |
| ASAP. Iwi elite are trying to force through their tribal takeover before the new government is formed and the true 4 and 6 February 1840 TOW is ratified by Acts referendum. Iwi should be tried for treason for bastardising the true treaty. Seabed and all water belongs to all NZ. Because they are NOT INDIGENOUS Maori and us are equal under these two treaties which include the Maori version of 6 February 1840. | Brenda |
| It’s time someone reminded the maoris that they lost this country to superior forces, hundreds of years ago. It no longer belongs to them. The claimed ‘rights’ under the agreement of Waitangi are false and dishonest, and if they continue to ‘Sew the wind’, they may find that they will ‘Reap the whirlwind’! | TOBY |
| When will this nonsence stop.?. Who are Maori? Anyone who claims to some distance past relationship with a white settler.. | Don |
| Otherwise it can only mean more division. | John |
| It should never ever been considered to be anything other than public ownership. Thanks a lot John Key and the feckless venal Maori elites. | John |
| It is the only fair way to go forward. | Michael |
| Absolutely all the foreshore should be under Crown ownership. I saw on the weekend if you go for ride on a dough boat in Taupo there is a $5 levy included in the price to be paid to a Maori to use the lake. No way was I going to take that ride. | Frank |
| The foreshore and seabed were never owned by Maori or any part of New Zealand for that matter. Of course it should be returned to the Crown. | Des |
| Absolutely. All references to Maori in legislation must be removed | Gareth |
| Priority as soon as possible | leo |
| Fix this bullshit once and for all!! | Wayne |
| Maori should only gain ownership to the sea bed after they have moved there on a permanent basis | Deirdre |
| Excellent article about a significant area of concern. Up to now I had thought Chris Finlayson did a good job. In the wake of these developments, apparently not. | Ian |
| What happened to the Queens Chain all beaches surrounding NZ shoiuld stay iunder Crown ownership and be available for all to enjoy. This is BS what is occurring now in NZ the 1840 treaty did not advocates for Maori to own all. | Gwenda |
| Absolutely | Bruce |
| I just hope that it is not too late to put the genie back in the bottle. | Rick |
| i thint it should be returned to rown ownership beacuse all kiwis should have the same rights | janette |
| To avoid civil war | Yanna |
| Radical Maori are becoming rabid dogs. bunch of mutants. More snouts in the trough. Sick to death of all this shit. They will never stop me going fishing and I will resort to violence if forced. New govt need to sort immediately. | Allan |
| Maori are greedy, they will want to take it all. The foreshore and seabed is for everyone and all future generations to use. | Kelly |
| Why no media comment on this? | Nick |
| Needs to be done ASP OR WILL BECOME out of control | leo |
| China Key has a lot to answer for. his nonsence led to Ardern not to mention any deals for communist China. | Bill |
| Of course it should. Only the Maori elite will benefit from this and all other New Zealanders will be at a loss with no rights to their foreshore | Roy |
| And the court that handed down that judgement should be dissolved for denying the rights of the majority of New Zealanders. | Terry |
| We all own the beach so it needs to be remidied | Barbara |
| Absolutely. All references to race must be removed from all NZ legislation. | Richard |
| National should alter the law.John Key always took the easy way out of any tribal situation.I feel that if things go really bad and Maori take over the foreshore .seabed and rights to control them we will end up with the worst country to live in in the modern world. It could leed to Civil war in New Zealand | Bill |
| Ofcourse it should otherwise we do not have a country with borders just a group of tribal borders. | Martin |
| Very definitely! The foreshore and seabed should be returned to Crown Ownership, and therefore to ALL PEOPLES of New Zealand, and not just a small percentage. | Heather |
| 100% | Mark |
| EveryBODY owns the foreshore and seabed, no one else, no tribes no separate races, no aliens, NO ONE full stop. | Alan |
| Maori work only for themselves and deceit is part of their weaponry. | Kevin |
| Putting aside the core issue.How is it that Maori are funded with tax payers money but not those in opposition to the claim. This is another example of the gross imbalance | Chris |
| God owns the sea and land we only have the use and custodianship of it so no group can claim ownership and be aable to ban others to use it or charge other you to use the seashore and seabed | anthony |
| YES, As should a lot of other things. | COLIN |
| as New Zealander’s we should all have equal rights no matter our ethnic background. | Ron |
| No one should own the foreshore and seabed. | Frank |
| when will all this Maori bull shit ever end.this new government has to end it all now | Barry |
| no body except the people should own it | RAY |
| without question this needs to happen. | Gavin |
| Like “academics” (intelligent,but stupid) screwed the education system,now the judicary are screwing the country.One can only hope new government will have the courage to change law and put judges back in their box. | Sid |
| Absolutely as in accordance with the 3rd article of the treaty. All NZers are british citicens under Westminster law where land ovnership stops at the high tide mark!!!! | Mike |
| All NZ residents, regardless of origin should have EQUAL right to access the coasts of New Zealand & the unimpeded access to gather shellfish, fish & seaweed . | Ben |
| Yes. It should never have been otherwise. | Sheila |
| And Finlayson should be hanged at dawn on Monday. | Murray |
| We voted for a return to democracy!! Urgent action is needed NOW | Susan |
| It seems impossible that any given race in any given population owns the seabed or rivers for that sake | Gerhard |
| Shame on maori, the courts and the Government to allow this to happen. It MUST be legislated with urgency to restore foreshore ownership to everyone equally. As intended. | Peter |
| All NZs should have control access to all coast areas the chain law to apply in areas where applicable. | judith |
| It is the only way to avoid conflantation of racial divide in this country | Brian |
| it is for everyone to enjoy and visit. no one owns the water . | Sue |
| No way should this return to total Maori control. It must be made open to all peple living or visiting in New Zealand. Any controls of Marine boating, Fisheries, Nature life, etc. be under Crown Ownership. | Ian |
| we are all new zealanders, all maori, all immigrants to this land, therefore, all one peoples, therefore the foreshore belongs to everyone. this nonsense with the maori grab as much as we can, will never create the peace and united country that we all so desperately want right now and especially with Labour now gone | anita |
| Christopher Findlayson hang your head in shame (he won’t..) | Martin |
| It should never been anything else! | Michael |
| EVERYONE CONTACT ALL NATIONAL,ACT,NZFIRST MP,s to return the SEA&COASTALE ACT to CROWN OWNERSHIP IMMEDIATELY or trouble for everyone.ACT PROMISED TO REMOVE ALOT of maori policies ETC THIS IS THE ONE they NEED TO INCLUDE. | Cindy |
| Without exception our democratic freedoms must be sanctamount and the true treaty must be adhered to. One law for all. | Jan and George |
| one nation under God | graham |
| We must end this theft or our seabed and foreshore. Majority rule is always the right way to run everything for all the people regardless of race or ethnicity. | fred |
| should always have been in crown 0wnership | nev kath |
| NZ needs to be colour-blind under the law. | Shane |
| No one owns the Seabed and Foreshore especially the Maoris | Graham |
| Save this country | Ronnie |
| We are all entitled to enjoy the coastlines. Having Maori control will put an end to that. NZ is not the place where I grew up in the 1950’s and 60’s things were totally different then than they are today. | Anon |
| Of course it should and it is long past the time when these thick headed judges realized that Maori are not the indigenous people of this land as such have no right to make any claims | Tom |
| This area belongs to all NZ’ers | Diana |
| Everything the Treaty stands for is being re-invented for a few ‘elitist’ maori. NZ is for all who live here, not just those selected on their part-maori ancestry | Sandra |
| I don’t trust that if the foreshore & seabed were “given” to Maori that they wouldn’t charge us to use it. | FloJo |
| Yes as it needs to be fair to all New Zealand residents | Lynne |
| Can you identify, all of the culprits, that stole the foreshore, and the rest of the other assets, that were ‘stolen from the people of NZ’? Its’ VERY EASY !!!! | David |
| What does “Kitanga” mean ? Are we starting new maori wars ? Why not getting cooking pots ready ?etc. etc. I would have thought we are all NZ-ers, one law for all people, rights and responsibilities. | Henk |
| ABSOLUTELY> SURELY WE ARE ALL NEW ZEALANDERS NOT SEPARATISTS. | John |
| Time to get rid of the waitangi tribuneral | Lawrence |
| Maori are not indigenous to New Zealand and have no right to the water or coastlines of New Zealand. Theft by stealth. | Wayne |
| Duh! | Bryan |
| Most definitely YES!!! | Ron |
| 1 people 1 country 1 vote | lionel |
| we are all one, as stated in the treaty, the seabed and foreshore can only be entrusted completely in the crown. | bob |
| Should never have been changed | Beverley |
| All coast should be government owned for the good of everyone, moari will only want more if they are given any. | Clive |
| Of course unless the government are stupid | Richard |
| Without doubt…!! | Vic |
| What a mess. Thank you Christopher Finlayson. This is your legacy. | Geoff |
| This is urgent. The country will / or can be held to ransom. | Toby |
| To avoid a total disaster this must happen, I am staggerd it has got this far real gravy train for the legal proffession | tim |
| So a National government led to this disaster! how great [Sir] John Key was! | Rochelle |
| Most definitely, without question!! | Colin |
| Let common sense prevail. Avoid years of litigation. We need more engineers not lawyers. | Doug |
| If not rectified it will be the beginning of the end for everyone other than Maori as they won’t stop | Dianne |
| Anything else is a disaster in so many ways for NZ | Hylton |
| Once again an idiotic Government, in this case treacherous Key’s National, has betrayed the majority of the people of New Zealand in favour of venal tribal elite interests. Could they have been so stupid? Likely, but in the end it’s treachery, plain and simple. | John |
| This is just the tip of the iceberg, elitist activist maori want to own the whole country and MUST be stopped, Luxons intentions are suspect here. | Greg |
| Yes, so much is going on behind the scenes, but we should all be one & have the Crown own the foreshore, protects everyone in the future | Tony |
| This is crucial to stop the Apartheid coup that is happening in NZ. | Geoff |
| Of course it must be. Our ancestors came to NZ to enjoy the freedom of access to our wide open spaces which included NZs coastal areas. Exclusive access will destroy our egalitarian culture. | Gary |
| A big mistake by the then National Minister!! | Robert |
| Crown ownership for all New Zealanders no matter who they are and from where they came. | Paul |
| Most certainly, and ALL court cases and claimants dismissed before the Maori gravy train can suck any more taxpayer money out of a stupid government. | Peter |
| Absolutely, without question. | Brian |
| Yes – a previous National Government was duped by tribal elitists to the extent that promises made were broken. It is now up to the new Government to put it right by returning the foreshore and seabed to public ownership as a matter of urgency before the whole situation deteriorates even further. This should never have been allowed to happen in the first place and any future legislation should be geared towards preventing this sort of racist plunder from ever reoccurring again. | Scott |
| Lets get away from this tribal rubbish and start being democratic again. Every and all people of tis land should have access to the shoreline. | Allan |
| It belongs to all New Zealanders | Marianne |
| Absolutely | Richard |
| Definitely, the beach is for everyone. | Kate |
| This must happen or else it will cause very serious problems | Bryan |
| Without a doubt. | Laura |
| Very, very tired of all this type of nonsense | Rosemary |
| Yes. It looks as though the Maori judges have been lobbying the senior non-Maori judges behind the scenes for years. The non-Maori senior judges look to have been a soft target where upon some have capitulated and have gone to extreme lengths beyond their competence to enable accommodation of favorable dubious interpretations. This to ease their highly intellectual but fictious feelings of guilt in regards to Maori being victims of 180yrs of oppression. The Non-Maori judges appear to have little or inaccurate knowledge of the New Zealand’s true history and accordingly their resultant discissions and judgments display a sheer bias to satisfy their Maori colleagues. It’s like a wasp larvae eating its prey from the inside to the outside. We are up against well funded sly cunning lot. We need to be strong. | Garry. |
| Of course it should … Part Maori will have just as much right as everyone else … how is that unfair? | Robbie |
| Our coast belongs to all New Zealanders, not one particular group or groups. | Susie |
| When the sea levels lower and expose the land out to the edge of the continental shelf as happened during the last ice age, the Crown will need to retain control over it for the benefit of all, not just one group. | Murph |
| Sick of all this nonsense | Lyn |
| It should have been in Crown ownership all along. | Harry |
| My understanding is that at the time Europeans arrived in NZ there were only about 50,000 Maori in this country. They would be spread pretty thin to occupy the entire coastline! The whole concept of Maori coastline ownership is wrong and the judges are wrong to think they can change the legislative intent because “its not fair.” | Bruce |
| YES. | Heather |
| Most definitely it should be returned to the Crown.We must push these newly elected parties to stand firm & show some strength & fight for the rights of all N.Zers. After all we are an Island nation surrounded by the sea. | Allen |
| essential | ken |
| It should never have been changed. | Brent |
| Absolutely. Available for all. | Tony |
| This is the ONLY reasonable thing to do to right the situation | David |
| How on earth did they ever get out of Crown ownership!? | John |
| Most definitely | eric |
| Must be a priority for the new Government. | Neville |
| Everyone should have free access to the foreshore not just those of Maori descent. I grew up in a country where we had equal rights no matter what your ethnicity and I would like it to remain that way | Helen |
| Without the slightest doubt,, there’s no way that a small group of NON-INDIGENOUS fractious uncivilized mongrels should be in control of the country’s … well … anything really | Ernest |
| It belongs to all of us, nut just a few who call themselves Maori | Charles |
| The Court ruling does not meet the intent of the las as specified by Parliament. Amend the law to meet the actual requirements. | Robert |
| Absolutely not!!!!! | Matt |
| Common sense must prevail to avoid a civil war | Alan |
| New Zealand foreshore should stay in Crown ownership and thus be accessible BY ALL NEW ZEALANDERS regardless of race. | Sandra |
| Foreshore is for all New Zealanders period. | Sue |
| Should never have given the opportunity by National to allow a section of the community take ownership that belongs to all New Zealanders. | Jackie |
| Absolutely | Steve |
| Surely they belongs to everyone. | Dennis |
| This law if allowed to proceed will bring racial division & inevitably violence will happen. Tribal rules as you see in Africa only ends in violence. | Derek |
| Of course | Kerin |
| YES YES YES | Robin |
| total disaster | keith |
| Absolutey. It was never owned by the Maori as they never had access to it all and that it was still being used by the Mori-ori in NZ, even after the Maori tribes landed in NZ | Graham |
| We are supposed to be a democracy of ONE people, not a nation divided by ethnicity. We have seen too many examples of Tribal Rule destroying democratic rights. | Ross |
| If Crown Ownership means it is “owned” by us all — okay. It is actually owned by its creator and His benevolence allows universal usage. We should acknowledge this and leave it at that. | Philip |
| Yes it should – every New Zealander should have access to beaches as of right. i realise that there will be some exceptions to this, due to Maori custom but that shold not override the rest of New Zealanders rights in this area | Trevor |
| The foreshore and seabed should not be controlled by a minority. | Susan |
| What a huge expense for what of course the crown owns the fore shore and sea bed it’s for everyone to enjoy | Peter |
| Absolutely. | Allan |
| For all people in this country and their pleasure, .Crown ownership only. | Ann |
| absolutely yes. maori ownership/control will open the floodgates for mass extortion of any body wishing to enjoy their right as citizens to fish, swim or just enjoy the outdoors | john |
| Immediately and completely! National should admit publicly that they made loads of errors under Chris Findlayson and set about putting them to rights. | Roger |
| All peoples in NZ should be equal | Gary |
| How can New Zealand Succeed in a Separatist Confrontation environment! The only way forward is Crown Control Ownership of the Foreshore & Seabed! Please in the future let’s have Commonsense Leadership Running this Government & Country!!! | Michael Andrew |
| NZ is too far along the path of a selected minority race imposing their tribal thinking to be able to call NZ non-racist and a democaracy. | Dane |
| Immediately. Hopefully the new Govt will see the sense in this land being NZ owned | Peter |
| To not do so would be a travesty. | Ian |
| We have to be one Nation with equal rights. If NZ becomes any more divided we offer a desperate future to our children. | Mel |
| NZ is well on the way to a full blown apartheid system with Maori controlling everything. This is the ‘New World Order’ Agenda for the whole world. It is trying to sart here in Australia. | Treva |
| Government has AN OBLIGATION based on previous assurances and undertakings to ensure NZ’s foreshore and seabed are returned to Crown ownership . Government MUST take necessary action accordingly. | Hugh |
| If the Crown doesn’t own the coast, nobody will be able to swim or fish there without paying some iwi or even multiple iwi. | Mark |
| Should NEVER have been taken away from government ownership. Who are these nitwit Judges who are supposed to be learned gentlemen that would stoop so low to do this. They should be tried for treason. How stupid can we get!! | Don |
| it is the only practical answer to avoid ongoing and increasing racial and other problems in the future. | kevin |
| Surely | David |
| They never owned it according to the Maori statement. They where custoadians. Hence the crown owning it is best for all people of NEW ZEALAND | Kenneth |
| Absolutely this is racism and based on a “custom” of no relevance. | Russ |
| All New Zealanders own the Foreshore and seabed completely | Bryan |
| After reading the Court of Appeal decision and the commentary I am appalled and extremely concerned. The new National/Act ?NZ First government must have the decision overturned as soon as poosible – with urgency. | Barbara |
| Should have been left in Crown ownership in the first place. Time to sell up and leave New Zealand. | Murray |
| Our shores & seas & air & minerals are for all of us to enjoy NOT just a small body of claimants | Peter |
| Simple, one nation, one people, shared ownership | phil |
| the foreshore should be for everyone not owned by one race | Harold |
| One people, one land | Shane |
| Definitely, no way should Maori have control | Graeme |
| Absolutely without question | Edith |
| Definitely. NZ as a whole, land, sea and air space, is for all New Zealanders. Of course it should be Crown owned. | Jacqueline |
| The foreshores and seabed should be there for everyone to use within the law but not be restricted to Maori ownership or rule. Returning it to crown ownership is the fairest way going forward. | Richard |
| Its the only fair way of controlling assets that belong to every citizen in New Zealand | Chris |
| Toot sweet. | Jason |
| Where do I start | Kevin |
| The obvious result. | June |
| Ridiculous to fund court action to take coastal land and seabed from all New Zealanders. | Peter |
| This is akin racism and an injustice to all new Zealanders Maori and European as well as out multi cultural residents | Bruce |
| get it back | nnoel |
| This is National’s fault and they must put it right. | Trevor |
| Absolutely | gale |
| No one entity should own the seabed except for the Crown. | Mike |
| Foreshore and seabed should belong to all newzealanders regardless of race | John |
| YES. Return them to the crown. Tribal ownership is another form of collective ownership. Collective ownership says that property belongs to everyone in general, in reality, no one in particular. Control is maintained by those with the biggest megaphone, the biggest club and the most guns. I will leave you to contemplate the consequences. | Donald |
| everybody should participate in the fruits of foreshore and seabed. | Graeme |
| New Zealand must remain a democracy and I believe we need more referendums as per the swiss system. We have too many ineffective local councils and too may MPs | David |
| If ownership is not returned to the Crown this will be the final straw for Nz | John |
| No one race should have total control over our foreshore and seabed. Tribal rule is not what NZ voted for and our coastline and seabed without any mandate should be in Crown ownership immediately. | June |
| The courts do no favours to the concept of national unity for all, seemingly steering us towards separatism and physical conflict in the future. If we cannot trust them to arbitrate sensibly, perhaps a few Justices should consider resigning. | Vic |
| Oh yes that is the only way. Trust Findlayson – not in a 100 years. He has shafted the majority in this country | Murray |
| For sure | Kevin |
| Stolen under the previous socialist government | Steve |
| An imperative to ensure democracy is upheld for the citizens of NZ. I am in favour of more referendums similar to the swiss system of government……….. | David |
| Hopefully National will not partner with the Maori party on any coalition agreement. | Phil |
| the foreshore and seabed must be owned and controlled for the benefit of all New Zealanders, not just a few Maoris. Maoris are not special, they are equal to all other New Zealanders. | fred |
| ABSOLUTELY!! Blame that rotten toady Chris Finlayson for the damage that his policy created. | Tony |
| Should never have even gone to Court – the Treaty of Waitangi sets out the law of the land! | Sue |
| a.s.a.p…. | John |
| In the interests of all NZ residents this needs to be resolved quickly and the National government have been given a mandate to correct it | Lawrie |
| The foreshore and seabed is for everyone, not just Maori. Who the hell do they think they are? | Douglas |
| What a huge waste of court time and there again a waste of tax payers money. | Peter |
| Absolutely, the only solution is to declare Crown ownership and control. | Graham |
| NOW | Wiremu |
| Should belong to all NZ’s | Edward |
| I went to discuss this matter with our Nat MP a few years ago and was told that it would never happen – was made to feel a fool. Her secretary was taking notes. | Barbara |
| I am sickened by our woke judiciary. MACA must be thrown out and the previous Act reinstated. This must be a top priority for the new government. | Allan |
| maori are not native or indigenous to NZ. 2nd here does not give you a right | rick |
| The answer is so obvious it should not require to be asked. | Chris |
| If not repealed, the planes will be full of our best to Australia,as its now happening. | Clint |
| We are “ruled” by academic morons with no conception of nationhood – change the law to ensure it remains under crown ownership. | Roy |
| Iwi greed and infighting prevents the Natives from managing all land forms of New Zealand except to exclude the considerations of the other 80% of citizens. | mike |
| It should have never been taken away from crown ownership , even a mentally challenged person could have seen / understood the ramifications for the future , of changing from crown ownership . | Roy |
| It belongs to all New Zealanders | Christine |
| Not just crown ownership but New Zealand People ownership. The crown can’t be trusted, the government can’t be trusted! Any changes must be put to the People of New Zealand. Anyone who believes there was an oversight in the draughting of the law or an oversight by the judge, also believes in the tooth fairy! | Peter |
| Yes and there needs to be transparency around topics like this so that ordinary citizens can get an appreciation of the issues and problems, and ultimately feel able to trust the government. | Sande |
| Absolutely! Much of Pakiri Beach has just had a nebulous indefinite rahui placed on it by a local tribe, and the beach will be “patrolled” to ensure compliance | LiNZey |
| My children and grandchildren born raised and paying taxes in this country are every bit Native New Zealanders as are any Maori and have well earned their right to the sea and foreshore as anyone whose ancestors arrived here by Pure happenstance | Max |
| These gravy trains Governments have set up are in contrary to the Treaty of Waitangi | Rod |
| All NZers should be treated equally under the law | Murray |
| Just goes to show the public can not trust any politian | Ron |
| To forego this ‘freedom’ of access for all would be the forerunner of many other creeping paralysis special rights over other aspects within society – road naming, health care,, separatist education etc. A inevitable broken divided nation! | Stuart |
| If the various justices pass down decisions the way they are going now, it is obvious that the will of parliament has not prevailed. Therefore this has to be re-legislsted to correct the error | Peter |
| Absolutely! A law change should be a priority for the incoming National/Act government. I’m sure that Winston and NZ First would support it. The Court of Appeal’s decision is a recipe for racial division and disaster. | Laurence |
| Yes indeed!! But as the final sentences of your article said. This mess of dubious claims will clutter up the court system for years to come and the initial winners will be the lawyers. Theselawyers have smelled gold from the beginning and have introduced special sections into their law firms ( staff and all) in the early 1990’s to ride this wave of unlimited income for many years to come. And surely , there will be many Maori people and all other citizens of New Zealand who have no benefit whatsoever from all this. It is the radical Maori elite growing rich beyond belief. And that lot cares only about itself. | Michael |
| No race, or rather part-race, should own the coastline. It’s a national resource, not a part-Maori resource. And that’s the nub of the issue. Maori are bits of different races now, like the rest of us NZders. Pandering to bits of people’s DNA is a recipe for disaster and Labour clearly demonstrated that. Let’s be honest. This is all about money and potential gain and very little about culture, which is a convenient smokescreen for the Maori elite while they’re amassing wealth at the expense of all other NZders, while doing little or nothing to create it. It’s the free-ride, entitlement culture that some Maori now represent. | Derek |
| To all New Zealanders | Cat |
| John Key has so much to answer for with this, the UN on indigenous rights, Bright line test, AML and on it goes – a disaster which keeps giving! | Giles |
| Maori wars reignited | Jeff |
| It belongs to everyone | Ken |
| 100% returned to the crown Another money grabbing claim by Maori. When will it end | KT |
| Of course it should. It’s the only sensible way forward. The foreshore and seabed belongs to all of us and should remain in public ownership. The Maoris are not indigenous and have no special claim to it or any public land in New Zealand. Why do these courts continually hand over our resources to a small portion of the population who have no right to it? It belongs to us all! | Lee |
| It is disgraceful that successive governments have created a situation where Maori consider they have right to control our primary recreational resource. | Mike |
| It is a very scary prospect that they might own our whole coastline. | Kim |
| This MACA crap needs to be thrown out ASAP and ownership of the foreshore and seabed returned to crown ownership. To have the NZ taxpayer (as represented by the crown) pay to have their access and ownership rights stripped away and handed over to Maori interests based on decisions made by woke judges based on such nebulous principles such as tikanga (which can mean different things to different tribes) can only lead to conflict, not only between NZ people of races with no Maori blood, but also between different tribes. We need to remove all reference to race from our laws & have a binding referendum on the TOW and it’s principles or this country is headed toward civil war. One can only hope that the new govt has the guts to do it. I can’t decide if this whole affair is more Orwellion or Phythonesc! | Andrew |
| Yes and I did not know it had been changed so thank you for telling me and NZ. Nats, get on with sorting this… | Ray |
| This will create a lot of hatred. You would think common sense world say this is stupid judgement by stupid people. | Mike |
| It’s everybody’s | Lynne |
| For all Kiwi’s, not just a select few based on ethnicity & migrating to NZ roughly one thousand years earlier than the rest of us. I dont want this great country to become a basket case like ZImbabwe | John |
| Do we still have the Queens/Kings chain in respect of rivers etc? | pdm |
| Maori do not own it and never have. It is all New Zealand citizens ownership and Govt. control. No more of these hand outs and divide by race. | Rod |
| and rapidly | Dave |
| We are one people, foreshore is there for all New Zealanders. | Sue |
| yes yes yes yes yes | Erin |
| Undoubtedly! | Fiona |
| Absolutely. Giving control to Iwi is putting the fox in charge of the henhouse. The foreshore & seabed belong to all of us. | Dave |
| If not NZ will become a much more expensive country to visit and enjoy and there will be less of it available to enjoy | Alan |
| So much for all the promises made. It makes you wonder who to trust. | Marlene |
| One nation one people | Mat |
| This is the most significant issue in NZ history. This is the Rubicon for New Zealanders. | John |
| OMG | Chris |
| Helen Clark introduced and Act that placed ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the rightful hands of the crown. John Key in pursuit of self aggrandisement rescinded that law and opened the pathway for land grabbers without any consideration for the public interest with the introduction of the Marine and Coastal Act 2011. It is a disaster and needs to be rescinded immediately. It formalises the ability of greedy Maori interests to own title to such a bountiful resource for nourishment and recreation that is one of New Zealands greatest treasures | terrence |
| This is so totally wrong. Firstly the Maori were NOT the first people of NZ. If this act remains as it is then any further legal challenge between Maori tribes and/or NZ public should be paid for out of their own pocket, not the pocket of the NZ public, otherwise it’s going to be a free for all and will fully clog up our court system, as mentioned, to claims and counter claims which will go on for eternity. Any claims made by tribes/public should be funded out of their own pocket. The NZ taxpayer has forked out far too much money already for the treaty claims without the public purse remaining open once again. | ngaire |
| Yep | Evans |
| In future years there will be grave repercussions if waring tribes continue to gain control of our assets | Patricia |
| There was nothing wrong with the Govt owning the foreshore ,it prevented anybody from claiming it for their own gain like the maori do | David |
| Judicial activism is over riding the democratic will of the people Time for the judges to be disciplined | Geoff |
| Let’s agree to a big NO to Tikanga | Mark |
| We need to share the foreshore and coast with ALL people. | Bruce |
| Definately NOT | Phil |
| Maori who call themselves….indigenous are lying. They do not meet the criteria and are practicing fraud. | mark |
| 100% Crown ownership and management | Mich |
| Yes, forever and for all time and protected from any legal or other claims for eternity. Anyone who believes Govt. assurances on ANYTHING, (safe and effective comes to mind), needs to be slapped upside the head until some sense is knocked into them!! | Brenda |
| One rule for all. No apartheid in NZ. | Ron |
| Nz foreshore and seabed belongs to ALL New Zealanders | Gaye |
| 100% !!!! | Richard |
| Of course – Tribal Maori should have limited cultural fishing rights but urban Maori radicals (who are more than 50% non-Maori) should have no rights. | Gerry |
| APARTHEID. WRONG | mike |
| Key and Findlayson have proved to be nothing but traitors to this country. | Rod |
| Appalling that the situation has become so dire | Alison |
| The foreshore belongs to all NewZealanders | Graeme |
| Yes, this is just wrong. The Crown must take control as this will be disastrous for our country. | Kate |
| YES, YES, YES. For everyone’s sake and for the balanced health of our wonderful country – NEW ZEALAND – stop this appartied bullshit. LUXON and yours, step up to the mark, please. Brian W. | Brian |
| most definitly | Mark |
| I can’t believe what I just read. | Peter |
| for the good of all kiwis | peter |
| The foreshore and seabed in NZ belongs to all New Zealanders, not just a privileged few! | Robin |
| And fast | Rod |
| Definitely and immediately | Sidwell |
| It is insane that only a small percentage of the population, based on ethnicity, should be allowed to own the foreshore and seabed. Only the Govt should own these marine features | John |
| All New Zealanders must be treated equally. | Iain |
| If the current situation remains,the courts will be tied up with litigation for competing Maori rights in perpetuity. | Janet |
| It should never have been changed | Mike |
| Again politicians selling all the people’s assets for their gain and giving disproportionate control to a minority. | Trevor |
| This is so out of control please return This is just so wrong , the in comming Government hopefully will sort this out | Nick |
| National led Govt must return the Coastline & Seabed to Crown (Public) Ownership | Kevin |
| Maori don’t own land, water, the skies or anything else just because they are Maori. Stop this bullshit now !! | Kevin |
| If Maori was full blooded , not Europeans with Maori blood. Maybe different | Dave |
| Good sense and application of the law demands it. The acceptance of the concept of tikanga in many forms with ability to evolve to suit changing circumstances is no basis for any law. Chris Finlayson gave a bland assurance all would be well with a suggested law, as did Geoffrey Palmer. They are both now found to be wrong and the cost is laid generally on New Zealanders. | Peter |
| We are all Kiwis here. Why cant some us share everything for the good of all. The racism needs to stop. | Chrysta |
| Should be a shared resource | John |
| When will common sense return for this event??? | Jon |
| This is a travesty. All NZers should be horrified at yet another erosion in the definition of who are we, and what does our country look like! | Tom |
| Emphatically Yes. Yet again – people whom we have given responsibility to with NZers assets – have taken liberties far beyond their brief. | Andrew |
| The foreshore and seabed need to be for everyone, not a select racial group. | Laurine |
| These racial rulings by the Court of Appeal are disgusting. | John |
| WE have to stop this nonsense | Ian |
| Which is where it should have remained after Clark’s sensible intervention without the deviousness of the Sir Key government mirroring the actions of the championing Maori parties. | Dick |
| The foreshore, seabed, airspace above the seabed and subspace belong to all New Zealanders, not just Maori. It must be returned to Crown ownership so that no one grlup has athe controlling interest. | Trevor |
| The vast majority of NZers will 1. Be unaware of this CA decision and 2. Regard access to our coastlines as available for all. | Don |
| Absolutely yes. I grew up in NZ when the foreshore, up to one chain (22 yards) of high water, was publicly owned. Given current legal changes I’m beginning to be glad I don’t live in NZ anymore. | Brian |
| The foreshore and seabed should never have been tampered with from its true customary right which is to belong, equally, to every citizen of New Zealand. | DAVID |
| National have done a lot of damage here abd at the UN. They need to sort it now. | Darren |
| Luxon, Seymour and Peters must as a priority put this right immediately. Parliament is supreme in New Zealand – irrespective of Tikanga!!. Luckily both ACT and NZ First are vehemently against co-governence | Andy |
| It was not private property, but common land Thus they surrendered sovereignty under the treaty of Waitangi. | Angelica |
| Very short: there are NO maories left. They are all less than halfcasts. And the judges NOT believing this should all be sacked. Thanks Mr Finlayson | Peter |
| Maori ownership would be a chaotic disaster unbelievable. It is treasure belonging to the people deserving CONTROL by the Govt | Barry |
| It is a right for all New Zealanders to have access to the foreshore and seabed and should be returned to Crown Ownership. | John |
| Absolutely I remember being at a presentation by john Key and I took issue with his approach to this. He assured me that he had received legal advice that it “had no teeth”. Yeah, right !!!!! It was obvious that this would happen ! | Laurie |
| Massive loss of respect for John Key and disgust at the judges for usurping parliament’s decisions | Alwyn |
| It belongs to everyone FULL STOP!! | Deb |
| Absolutely. | charles |
| Another cock up by National, Key and others. | RICHard |
| Foreshore for all! | Cole |
| Should never have been taken from Crown control. John Key has much to andwer for. | Gail |
| National created this mess — and it is appropriate they fix it – if they have the spine. (If they have one at all) | Mark |
| Yes, for all NZers | |
| Of course It is for all New Zealanders, not just greedy tribal groups | Pete |
| One can only conclude that judges have been approached by Maori interests. Why wouldn’t they? | Anthony |
| Absolutely | Brian |
| Obviously | mar |
| What this decision shows is that we definitely cannot trust our courts to uphold the common law. Our judges are clearly woke activists! | Alan |
| The Crown should manage it on behalf of ALL New Zealanders | Bruce |
| It needs to go back to the crown so NZ people can enjoy and maintain the beaches. | Chaquila |
| If all this BS continues and Maori get what they want, things will not end well for anybody. In these sort of situation, just look for the money. | Ray |
| Absolutely and permanently No ifs buts or maybes The current system of total overlapping claims surrounding the entire NZ coastline is abhorrent . Talk about subverting democracy and reinventing a Treaty with inclusion of words not there previously or reinvented in meaning.. | Carolyn |
| Yes, taken back from Maori control… Maori have nil rights for the claims to the foreshore…. But don’t forget…., The so called ‘CROWN’……. is a BANK!!! | David |
| The foreshore and sea bed belong to ALL citizens. On a case by case basis, Maori customary usage of resources can be accommodated. This does NOT include resources like the radio spectrum and underground minerals that pre-contact Maori had no knowledge or use of. | Sandy |
| It’s the right of all citizens to access these areas . | Doug |
| It should never been placed in the hands of anybody else. Even the Romans work that out. | David |
| A country’s border areas are of self-evident immense strategic importance. They must be fully controlled by the State. | Barend |
| The treason from our ‘elected officials’ since 1975 to create an ‘apartheid state’ is staggering. We the people had better do something about this before we go the way of Zimbabwe. It is obvious that our ‘elected officials’ don’t represent ‘we the people’, but rather a globalist agenda. | neil |
| The foreshore and seabed should never have been taken out of Crown ownership. Chris Finlayson’s law change has been a disaster and the sooner Luxon, Seymour and Peters repeal it the better. | Dan |
| MACA should be scrapped as a priority. The coast should have stayed in public ownership. | Murray |
| The public have no idea what’s happening with regards to the ownership of the coast as the media never report it anymore. How come this ruling has not led the news? It’s about the country’s future for goodness sake. | Phillip |
| Winston Peters needs to take a lead on this. He promised to scrap MACA and restore the Foreshore and Seabed Act. And that is what needs to happen – pronto! | Shona |
| The coast should never have been taken out of public ownership. The National Party was duped by Maori sovereignty advocates. | Roger |