Last month, the new Government announced a timetable for implementing their Coalition promise to restore the Marine and Coastal Area Act to what Parliament had originally intended. This was in response to activist judges misinterpreting the law in such a way that Maori tribal groups were on track to gain control of New Zealand’s entire coastline right out to the edge of the 12 nautical mile Territorial Sea.
The response from tribal leaders was predictable: outrage and threats to orchestrate a repeat of the protest action against Labour’s foreshore and seabed law change in 2004, when then Prime Minister Helen Clark branded activists as “haters and wreckers” and refused to meet.
Helen Clark was clear that as Prime Minister, while she had to understand minority concerns, her role was to govern for all New Zealanders: “We hear the concern being expressed but my method is that we must govern in the interests of all New Zealanders to get the fair balance we are striving for.”
That was the sentiment echoed by Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith when he announced the law change:
“All New Zealanders have an interest in the coastal waters of our country, so Parliament deliberately set a high test in 2011 before Customary Marine Title could be granted. However, last year the Court of Appeal made a ruling which changed the nature of the test and materially reduced the threshold… Therefore, as part of the National-New Zealand First coalition agreement, the Government has agreed to propose legislation which will ensure these tests for applications directly with the Crown or through the Courts are upheld as originally intended.”
With gross misinformation about this law change being deliberately spread by opponents, let’s do a quick recap to remind ourselves what’s at stake.
The Marine and Coastal Area Act covers the distance between the average spring high tide waterline and the 12 nautical mile limit of the Territorial Sea, along with the airspace above, the water space, and the subsoil, bedrock and mineral wealth below.
It’s essentially 10 million hectares of the richest natural resource in the country – a literal food basket, transportation network, security zone, and treasure chest of invaluable non-nationalised minerals including iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, and rare earths.
That’s why every square inch of the coast has been claimed many times over by hundreds of tribal groups. If they succeed in securing a Customary Marine Title (CMT), they will gain an invaluable property right akin to ownership that includes the ability to veto all resource consents and conservation activities in their claimed area, to be involved in coastal planning and policy development, to derive commercial benefit through charging commercial operators and exploiting their natural resource wealth, and to exclude others from their area – temporarily through the use of ‘rahui’, and permanently through ‘wahi tapu’.
As the Minister indicated, it is the actions of activist judges that have led to this alarming situation where our entire coastline is on the cusp of being effectively privatised to Maori.
The problem started in 2003, when activist judges in the Court of Appeal declared that in spite of the foreshore and seabed having been owned by the Crown on behalf of all New Zealanders under British common law since 1840, pockets of customary title might still exist.
That judgement created a tsunami of claims for the coast, forcing Helen Clark’s Labour Government to legislate to restore Crown ownership through the 2004 Foreshore and Seabed Act. While the new law provided guardianship rights to tribal groups that could prove their customary interest in the High Court, there were on-going complaints that the bar was set too high for claims to succeed.
During the 2008 election, the Maori Party campaigned on repealing the Foreshore and Seabed Act and once in coalition with John Key’s National Government, the Marine and Coastal Area Act was introduced to open up the coast for tribal claims.
New Zealanders were overwhelmingly opposed to the law change, but National reassured the public that the tests for customary title were set so high, that relatively few pockets of the coast would end up under tribal control.
To gain a CMT applicants had to satisfy two section 58 tests: under 58(1)(a) they had to “hold the specified area in accordance with tikanga” (Maori custom), and under 58(1)(b) they had to “have exclusively used and occupied the area without substantial interruption from 1840 to the present day.”
The law enabled the 58(1)(a) tikanga test to be determined by so-called tikanga experts agreed to by claimants, rather than a Judge.
The need for ‘exclusive’ use and occupation in the 58(1)(b) test, was expected to rule out claims that were overlapping or where third-party usage represented a substantial interruption.
Since tribal groups had limited ability to navigate far from shore in 1840, few Territorial Sea claims were expected to succeed.
While the law protected the rights of commercial fishing, navigation, and public access, as well as consents for existing marine reserves, aquaculture activities, and essential infrastructure operated by the Crown, port companies, and councils, CMT holders had the power to veto expansion plans.
The Act specified two pathways for claimants – a hearing in the High Court or direct negotiation with the Minister of Treaty Settlements. And while no financial assistance was offered to those opposing claims, significant funding of up to $458,000 was available to claimants!
On the eve of the six-year deadline for lodging claims in April 2017, almost 600 overlapping claims flooded in – some 202 for the High Court and 385 for Crown Engagement.
Given the huge concerns at the time, the NZCPR raised the funds to oppose the claims in the public interest. Our hope was that a sensible outcome in the first case would have a precedent effect on the hundreds of others waiting to be heard.
The first case, Edwards, was for a 44 km stretch of the Bay of Plenty coastline around Opotiki where we understood customary title was unlikely to exist.
Justice Churchman, however, awarded CMT covering the entire area out to the edge of the Territorial Sea – one individual CMT and two joint CMTs shared between six and seven applicant groups.
As far as the section 58 tests were concerned, the judgement ruled that ‘tikanga’ over-rides any common law ‘exclusive use and occupation’ requirements: “The task for the Court is not to attempt to measure the factual situation against western property concepts or the tests at common law for the establishment of customary land rights. The critical focus must be on whether the specified area was held in accordance with the tikanga that has been established.”
With regards to “substantial interruption”, the Judge decided that instead of third-party activities that disrupted ‘ownership’ such as a marine farm ruling out a CMT altogether, the area in question would simply be excluded from the CMT.
And as far as ‘overlapping’ claims were concerned, instead of ruling them out for not being exclusive, Justice Churchman created the oxymoron of “shared exclusivity”, which opened the floodgates for competing claimants to share the “spoils of victory”.
Essentially the Churchman judgement was a free pass to tribal ownership of the coast. His decision that tikanga was to be the only thing that really mattered meant the entire New Zealand coastline was likely to end up controlled by hundreds of competing tribal groups who lodged opportunistic applications at the last minute.
So, we appealed the judgment to the Court of Appeal, asking that the Churchman decision be overruled and the Section 58 test restored to what Parliament originally intended.
The Court of Appeal decision, which was released just after the election, took the extraordinary approach of rejecting Parliament’s view:
“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… MACA would in many cases extinguish those interests… by a side wind, by setting a threshold for recognition of CMT that could not be met… The courts should be slow to attribute to Parliament an intention to prescribe a test for CMT that would operate in this manner, contrary to the stated purposes of MACA.”
As a result, the Court of Appeal lowered the bar so most claims would succeed by essentially ruling that claimants don’t need to demonstrate exclusive use and occupation ‘from 1840 to the present day’ in order to gain a CMT – as long as they can show they had exclusive use and occupation in 1840 which hasn’t been substantially interrupted by third-party activities authorised by legislation.
What that judgement revealed to National was just how badly their law had been corrupted by judicial activism.
While the proposed amendments to the Marine and Coastal Area Act are expected to be tabled in mid-September and passed into law by Christmas, their 27 July announcement has an immediate effect. All cases not already decided will need to be determined under the amended law – including cases where hearings have been held, but decisions have not yet been released.
Those cases that have been decided but are under appeal, will be determined by the outcome of November’s Supreme Court case. This is the case we are fundraising for – see details HERE.
Since we will be asking the Supreme Court to quash the Court of Appeal ruling and reinterpret the law as Parliament intended, their decision will reveal whether New Zealand’s highest appeal Court is working in the public interest to strengthen democracy and the Rule of Law, or whether it is yet another institution that’s been ‘captured’ by tribal activists.
So, where to from here?
Looking at the big picture, a key reason why National’s ill-advised Marine and Coastal Area Act was able to be so easily corrupted from doing what Parliament intended, to delivering what Maori want, was the inclusion of “tikanga” in the law.
To work properly, the law must be certain and predictable, but tikanga is neither. It is a concept that is open to interpretation and can essentially mean whatever Maori want it to mean. Introducing tikanga into the law opens the door for Judges to justify the arguments of race-based activists.
What this means is that if the Coalition’s proposed law change contains “tikanga”, it cannot safeguard the public interest in the coast from the actions of activist judges in the future.
In reality, the only foolproof way to protect the coastline for all New Zealanders is to return it to Crown ownership by repealing the Marine and Coastal Area Act and restoring the 2004 Foreshore and Seabed Act.
This view is echoed by this week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator Frank Newman, convenor of the Landowners Coalition and a former local body councillor, who explains:
“While we should welcome the coalition government putting things right the proposed amendments still fall short of what should happen to the law. How much of the coast will fall into customary title will be up to the courts to determine, based on the new guidelines.
“The question is should judges be trusted with such an important issue? In my view, there is too much activism at all levels within the legal fraternity to allow discretion.
“The right thing to do would be to shut the door on customary title. The entire marine and coastal area should be returned to Crown ownership and managed for the benefit of all New Zealanders. That is the simple and correct solution.”
And, looking ahead, that’s the big question: will the amended Marine and Coastal Area Act be capable of preventing the massive tribal power grab for our coast that’s presently underway, or, as Frank suggests, is returning the foreshore and seabed to Crown ownership the only real option to safeguard the public interest in New Zealand’s coastline into the future?
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THIS WEEK’S POLL ASKS:
*Should the Marine and Coastal Area Act be amended or repealed?
*Poll comments are posted below.
*All NZCPR poll results can be seen in the Archive.
THIS WEEK’S POLL COMMENTS
Given that no single person in NZ has full Maori ancestry and very few have more than 50% Maori ancestry implies that exclusive use since 1840 can never be validated for any area of NZ coastline, thus Section 58(1)(b) can never be satisfied. However given that “Tikanga” has no clear, concise translation in English, making it open to individual interpretation, the current law must be fully repealed. | Richard |
All of this trouble we have in N.Z, with the 13%, can be traced back to Impostor politicians from LABOUR and NATIONAL, that work for the INTERNATIONAL Inter-LOPERS, at the N.WO/WEF/IMF/ CFR/BLACKROCK. the same politicians have sold us all out, to the INTRNATIONAL CRIMINALS, who don’t mind KIWIS becoming SLAVES…for UN/WEF. | David |
All New Zealanders should have total access to the coast. It should be returned to crown ownership. | Stuart |
Cynically, John Key’s passed the MACA the week after the disastrous Christchurch Feb.2011 earthquake. Foreshore and Seabed Act was one of the only things Ms Clark got right. Why do NZ taxpayers have to pay for this outrage? | Monica |
Repeal it – and for good measure put Churchman in the stocks for his awful judgement and causing so much waste of our public monies on this. Remove Tikanga from the vocabulary permanently! | Doug |
One people, one law | Peter |
Definitely Repealed. | Grahame |
The whole idea that this invaluable resource should be controlled by and sector of the populous is totally insane. | Peter |
Can we trust National to support the repeal ? Unfortunately I have my doubts. No wonder people are leaving or thinking seriously about it. | David |
It belongs to all NZ ers | carol |
First and foremost, we are all New Zealanders and as such no one person or ethnicity can own the foreshore and seabed. The New Zealand government needs to fix this now as it is getting out of hand. Ownership should be vested in the Government and never be changed so that everyone has equal rights to access, and no one benefits financially. This is a train wreck heading for the destruction of democracy. Enough is enough. | Paul |
While at it get rid of Maori seats in parliament no more apartheid! | Norman |
In the bin with it immediately. The maori has no more right to the coastal area than any other new zealander | Flip |
To be there , for all nzers | Kevin |
I have very little faith in Luxon and National when it comes to their pre election promises. They have back tracked on several already and this is just another one about to happen. National are just a watered down version of Labour. Heaven help this country. | Chris |
Repealed. The entire coastline of NZ should be “owned” by ALL NZers. It is as simple as that. | Keith |
Yes repealed and make gathering rights and quotas equal amongst all who wish to gather sea food The right to food and nourishment are not the sole domain of any race Imagine the out cry from Maori If we band Maori from DB draught and Red Band Claiming our customary rights can not be shared heaven forbid. The whole foreshore and seabed nonsense possibly wouldn’t have happened if we still had access to the privy counsel Wishing no disrespect but There is no doubt a depth of wisdom available there at PC far exceeds the political opinions expressed via the courts here Fairness to All trumps all other argument | Bruce |
Take it all back | Stanford |
Original legislation allowed very limited qualifying Maori tribal groups to gain control of foreshore and seabeds. Essential to repeal the current legislation permitted by activist judges. | Peter |
Moving NOW quickly, into NWO/WEF/FAO, Feudal/Communist Racial Slavery, N.Z being lined up for their next BIO EXPERIMENT on KIWI Sheeple… wait for it folks!!! | David |
New Zealand’s coast and waters out to the 12 mile limit belong to and are for the benefit of ALL New Zealand citizens regardless of ethnic origin, tribe, or financial status. | Sandy |
iMaori tribes if they get nz coastline, will it turn out like the tarawera conservation land. That was closed to the public, all Doc huts destroyed. We have to keep our coastline in crown control. | steve |
Amended, so long as it delivers what was intended. However, what I want to know is why the judges are still employed, when they clearly acted against the wishes of Parliament? | Anthony |
When will foolish New Zealand people wake up to the fact that Maori are neither indigenous or our Treaty partner. Queen Victoria never made Maori her Treaty partner. | Paul |
Nobody should OWN the ocean, foreshore or seabed, least of all waring tribal activists, it is remarkable the judiciary are able to operate in this way. | Ian |
This has gone too FAR. ENOUGH | mike |
This act needs to be repealed ASAP. Our marine and coastline need to be available for everybody in New Zealand tonenjoy | Chris |
It should be available to all NZers | john |
The U.N/WEF/WHO/BLACKROCK agenda, is designed to ‘Kill us off’, not save the Planet.War on God, man and nature is the goal. They are targeting, farming, and our food security operations worldwide. We have to start taking the war, to THEM, so that they get the message, loud and clear!! Do not COMPLY!! | David |
That is the only sensible long term option which is the situation in most countries | ivan |
Ownership of the foreshore & seabed should be returned to the Crown for the benefit & enjoyment of all Kiwi’s | John |
The legislation has to be repealed because, for the majority of New Zealanders, the trust in politicians, the judiciary and the mainstream media, is almost non-existent. If there is even a small chance of a loophole in any amended legislation, politicians and the judiciary, supported by the bias main stream media, will certainly find it and, the ultimate ignominy, is that the same New Zealanders will have to foot the exorbitant legal costs, all at the expense of such essential activities as health, education, shelter and safety, which are already financially stretched to the maximum. | John |
I wouldn’t mind hapu receiving money from resources around the coast but the country will do better if access to most parts of the coast is free for everyone. | Ministry |
The only right thing to do, repeal. Frank is correct. | Neil |
And sooner the better. | Mark |
this has become the expected dogs breakfast, save the country millions of dollars & extended racial hatred & repel it back to Clarks foreshore & seabed act. Keys government should never have thought about changing it to appeases the Maori Party | NIGEL |
Enough of this Tribal Activism. | Rob |
The coast line and waters ahould be available for all new zealanders. Not dedicated tho and control by a minority. We are one country and should be one people, this would be for the betterment of the whole county. Too often the minority end up with their way and the silent or ignorant majority loose out! | Michelle |
It’s a shame that in New Zealand we have highly paid activist judges who are causing the general public to question this high standing group of former lawyers. It appears that New Zealand’s current judges’ fraternity has lost it’s direction, motivation and maturity to serve our country properly by going beyond and purposely circumventing lawful parliamentary acts. Like the Israeli Judiciary it appears that some of our judges now seem to have an intent to do mischief toward our nation by making such downright negative supercilious rulings. I can only conclude that they must be bored just like anybody else. Thus they need to have some fun in their highly esteemed lives. Over paid twits. Dodgy rulings need to be publicly ridiculed and taken apart on social media. Come on New Zealand get behind Dr Muriel Newman with all the support that each and every one of us can muster. We can’t let our fine democratic country slip into a backward third world rabble. It’s closer than what you think. | Garry. |
marine and coastal areas belong to ALL new zealanders | john |
As long as the word Tikanga remains in the law, it will remain open to abuse by activist judges and claimants. | Allan |
Shut down all divisiveness in NZ | Maxine |
Make NZ great again | Jo |
There should be no special rights to any group. | Dianne |
Let all the sea shore belong to all New Zealanders. | Dianne |
The coastal Area belongs to all of us weather black, brown or white. Fullstop. | William |
Helen Clark got two things right, The foreshore and seabed act and replacing Knighthoods with a New Zealand honours system. The MACA debacle must be repealed in total to take activist judges out of the equation all together and return to full Crown ownership. One country, one people, one law for all! | Ian |
Repeal. National will not admit JK got it wrong, National tinker with the current law rather than repeal. Helen Clark had more spine than National. Failure to repeal gives no confidence National are working for all Kiwis. The seabed and foreshore belongs to all New Zealanders equally. UNDRIP and this law change by national/JK turned us off ever voting National again, | Sam |
All NZers shoould have equal rights | Barry |
Maori cannot possibly own everything that nature made for all to enjoy. Plus when are we going to take the absolute fact that the are not indigenous?? It’s lunacy to keep the pretense going, and quite frankly insulting | Cath |
Get rid of it and revert to all NZers and government have control and use of the foreshore and seabed . | Andrew |
Repealing the Act will help reinstate NZ into the place that the majority of Kiwis value and consider to be fair. It also needs to include those areas of coastline that have been locked away into private ownership by colonial settlers. | Gary |
The coast belongs to all New Zealanders. | Errol |
The current Act is far too open to judicial activism. We can no longer trust our judiciary. | Peter |
Nothing less will suffice than an unequivocal law stating the foreshore and seabed are owned and administrated for the benefit of ALL New Zealanders | Colin |
Nuts | Jeff |
this part of nz belongs to us all no matter who we are | Neville |
ownership by all the people | |
Repealed , and the Entire Coastline returned to Crown Ownership. I have never understood how National were so dim that they could not write Legislation that ensured ownership was via the Crown that represents ALL NEW ZEALANDERS | Noel |
It must be returned to the Crown! | Valerie |
forthwith and with NO amendments nor any appeasements. | Carolyn |
Return our coast to crown ownership. No more racist customary rights, or customary marine title. | Rose |
It should be repealed, it is very obvious that judges in these cases cannot be trusted to do the right thing by the New Zealand public | Jeffrey |
Potentially massive public unrest if the wider public realise what is at risk. | Dave |
Repealed and also get rid of the Waitangi Tribunal and all the race based nonsense which is dividing us. Will have to rely on Seymour and Peters To fix things as Luxon is useless. | Carole |
Altered to take into account ALL New zealanders | Denis |
Finlayson was so naive to think this would be okay and won’t be many claimants. That would be the case if they were honorable people, but clearly they are not. They will exploit any gap we give them. Especially if we are also funding them to do so! What were they thinking! | Steve |
Crown ownership is the only correct method to proceed with | Mike |
The sooner the better!! | Ian |
Back into crown ownership 100% of it. Expensive power bill? Hopefully the investigation outs the maori payouts contributing to our highest power bills in the world. Another revolting situation. | Kevan |
They signed up to English law | Sydney Harvey James |
The seashore and sea bed belongs to ALL NZers, no matter what race or religion they come from. We are above all else Sovereign Human Beings, all with the same rights. | Alan |
As long as there is no reference to Tikanga. | David |
Not working as parliament intended. | Graham |
All coastal area should be owned by the Crown for use by all New Zealanders. | Denis |
National will not remain in power at the next election if this disastrous Marine and Coastal Area Act is not repealed.. Tinkering around the edges with different definitions and understandings of it will serve no purpose other than confusion. It will still be there and the Iwi will still be making their outrages claims for “customary Title.”This will never end. New Zealand will never forgive National if their coastline and international waters out to the 12 mile limit is lost to the greedy claims of self serving Natives. Beware National Coalition Government you need to govern according to the mandate you are given. Parliament has Sovereignty. Parliament can overrule the courts , Parliament needs to exercise their sovereignty in the interests of all New Zealanders. Maori don’t need customary title to gather pipis and collect stones and catch fish and gather kina because they can do that anyway. Maori need to share the resource like everyone else. They are trying to keep the resource to themselves and deny other New Zealanders. Maori share the commercial development and social institutions provided by the government of this country. Maori share the roadways provided and public access to National Parks , hospital services and health funding but they want to exclusively own rights to our coastline. Rescind this John Key created ego serving legislation, Helen Clark had it right with the Foreshore and Seabed Act , but Key was influenced by his Maori Coalition partner to rescind that and introduce this piece of legislation. Customary Title so all about exclusivity of access, exclusivity of harvesting the resource, its not about sharing the rights with all New Zealanders. The government of today needs to rescind this legislation in its entirety and reintroduce The Foreshore and Seabed Act and lock it in permanently. Stand Up and Govern National Coalition. The Coastal Marine Act is about to cut the ground out from under where you stand. Destroy it now else the electorate will destroy you. The electorate has the ultimate power over whether you stand or fall. | terrence |
It’s too flakey | Jim |
If only we could get to the end of this nonsense! | Elizabeth Mary |
No question! Corruption is rife! Judges are corrupt, no question! | peter |
Nobody should be able to lay claim to any coastal area for any reason whatsoever. | Hugh |
Let us end all race based decisions and return NZ to a democracy where everyone is is equal. | Steve |
This is to be totally Repealed. The woke leftist elite Maori Tribals Group will never be happy just the Four shore &sea Bed then it will be the Air Above it as well.If the means the silent majority will be irrelevant ! | Michael Andrew |
Also repeal all the other laws that give special privileges to Maoris. New Zealand should have laws that treat all citizens the same. | Gary |
Amended just allows the maori mafia to continue with attempts of pure greed and self serving parasites to cream funds from whitey . The judicial must be held responsible for this disgusting interpretation of law . Perhaps Churchman is demanding a knighthood comparable to the tooth fairy’s bogus award . It is so obvious that maori want total control of everything ie the maori wards is turning violent as was to be expected ,mainly a violent race resort to violent means to gain their demands . Be strong councilors you are up against the lowest form of individuals . | Ray |
I consider that a public vote by all New Zealanders ought be taken if the repeal is not acted upon. | Ian |
The Coast is for EVERYBODY to use, and sensible government management. | Greg |
Restore Marine & Coastal Areas to be enjoyed equally by all New Zealanders. We taxpayers have helped too many privileged tribalists gain powerful degrees to divide our country. One person, one vote, our democracy is unity. | Rose |
Must be repealed. Need to be mindful of the unintended consequences and their ramifications. | Graham |
Stolen PUBLIC OWNED COASTAL LANDS need to be returned to the PEOPLE of N.Z…. The 13% minority, that think that the Land, Water, and Natural Resources of the country belong to ONE RACE, are seriously DELUDED!! | David |
Unless the word tikanga is removed inter alia, then the whole act should be removed | Phil |
No one should own it. | Evan |
That would appear to be the only way to stop judges making decisions that are not in the interest of all New Zealanders and in the Public Interest. The lopsided funding assistance smacks of racial preference when all who live in NZ should be considered equal. | Ian |
I think CROWN OWNERSHIP so ALL NZ benefits NOT just 19% .I also urge EVERYONE to email Paul Goldsmith & Winston Peters to make sure it,s for ALL & have Tikikana REMOVED from NZ LAWS as the goverment PROMISED | Cindy |
All legislation referencing “race” must be given the boot. Urgently. | Richard |
Repeal is immediately so that all this nonsense can STOP!!! | Sylvia |
Lets pose this question, “Should all of New Zealands coastline be given over to maori?” Put this to the pub test and request a straight yes or no answer. We all know what the answer will be don`t we. The answer will be NO because common sense will be applied as per good old school NZ principles. Yes common sense that thing that has disappeared in recent times along with common decency. We need a new political party filled up with people with these qualitys to bring this country out of the shithole it is rapidly disappearing into. Imagine if we grab a shopping trolley and cruise around around all the political partys and pick up any with the qualitys we require.Of course there will be no point in cruising thru` the GREENS OR MAORI PARTY AS THERE ARE NONE IN THIER RANKS SUITABLE David Seymour as PM? YAAAAAAAAAY!!! | Brian |
If we repeal it, it will be easier for a future Labour/Green/Maori Party Govt to implement whatever they want. As it stands the original legislation was brought in under Labour and it will be harder to repeal or change by a future Labour-led shambles. | Brenton |
The coastal area should be under the direct control of the government for al new zealanders to enjoy | john |
This for the betterment of all New Zealand. One law for all. If customary rights are needed then they should be specifically for set times and place and limited to actives that where normally for and available to the tribes in 1840. For example, no other NZ citizen retains rights to land once owned by them but now lost or sold for whatever reason. | Malcolm |
Repeal. How is it in New Zealand Inc interest to award ownership of the most resource rich area to five percent of the population, based on race. Access to these areas by other New Zealanders would be at the best restricted to those prepared to pay or totally disallowed and violence used to maintain control. This would also apply to businesses seeking to develop enterprises that would benefit all of New Zealand through taxes and employment etc. Return ownership to all New Zealanders and allow all New Zealanders to enjoy the benefits of living in New Zealand. | Rob |
If you repeal it that will leave it wide open for a worse alternative | Tom |
For all New Zealanders | Cedric |
No more Public funding, for Maori Radical Groups, or Hand outs…. this B.S and fraud has to END, ONCE AND FOR ALL …funding has to be STOPPED!! | David |
One law for all ethnicities. maori activists are just after a land grab | Bill |
we must not be held to ransom every time we visit a beach or try to fish | Peter |
Nonsense the coast line and ocean around New Zealand belongs to every Kiwi not Maori.. Check Queens Causeway | KT |
With the current ‘demands’ by activist Maori’s Marine and Coastal Area Act requirements leading to wide-spread racial separatism, New Zealand does not need this division in our society. | Stuart |
One country one vote one people one nation all working together for the good of all, NO to race based separatism and opportunistic acquisition of the nations assets which must remain owned in perpetuity for the benefit of all. | Johanna |
Repeal is the only way to keep activist judges out of the political spectrum. | Mark |
Scrap the bill and start again and get it right. | Bevan |
One person, one vote. One people, one country. | Clinton |
The entire Marine and Coastal areas MUST be returned to Crown ownership and control for the benefit of ALL New Zealanders. Further the activist judges involved in effectively rewriting the MACA Act legislation should be weeded out and sacked . | Hugh |
New Zealand is for all New Zealanders | Harvey |
Return the foreshore and seabed to Crown ownership ASAP! | David |
Braches for ALL New Zealanders. | Bryan |
It should be repealed but it won’t be. | Alan |
Bin race based laws all of them | Boris |
Ged rid of poorly drafted legislation | Margaret |
The Crown rightly should own all rights to the Coast and Foreshore, as previously. Maori have shown they cannot be trusted to act to others reasonably by continually issuing rahui and other means to share access. | Alastair |
Tikanga is NOT an exclusive commodity owned by a minority, it is like air, it may originate from one area or region but it is shared by one and all. If not it is extinguished. Treaty must bare witness to ALL are One. One law for All. If that term is violated then the Treaty is violated and falls into default and becomes void. | Richard |
The coast belongs to AII NZers, and the crown administers it on our behalf. Not complicated at all! | Bruce |
The coastal waters of NZ belong to us all. | Penelope |
The whole MARINE ESTATE should be vested in the crown for the benefit of all NZrs and managed by a new department specifically set up for that purpose. Use of parts the estate can be managed by the granting of limited term leases the terms of which contain use control provisions. | Bruce S |
Belongs to all New Zealanders to enjoy, | Julie |
Yes, – get rid of the b….y thing as soon as possible Racism has no place in New Zealand. It’s ridiculous that we even have to consider such nonsense. | Don |
The quicker the better. | Clinton |
Replace it with the previous Foreshore and Seabed Act. | Donald |
as soon as possible…. | john |
It was the best thing Helen Clark ever did for us | Donna |
Repeal is the more effective solution – but amendment is the Coalition compromise. the Ardern agenda is very hard to cancel. | mary |
The NZ foreshore & seabed should be in Crown ownership & when John Key’s government allowed it to be taken out of Crown ownership it did a dis-service to New Zealanders. Shame on that government. Therefore I strongly believe that the legislation should be repealed asap. | Barbara |
No more customary title! Returning the marine and coastal area to Crown ownership is the only way forward, as Frank Newman suggests. Also ensure that any customary titles already handed out by activist judges be voided and returned as well. | Scott |
Time to get rid of tribal activism for the good of all in NZ! | Dane |
Tribal activism is contrary to democracy | Lois |
Don’t trust Luxon. I find it difficult to understand why he supports part Maori greed but can only conclude that his puppetmasters in the WEF are instructing him how to continue Arderns destruction of race relations and in fact the destruction of New Zealand. We badly need the support of David Seymour and Winston Peters on this crucial issue. NZers need to join together and get rid of Luxon, Willis and all the globalists from our once beautiful country. | Carolyn |
IwI = I want It. This bshas got to stop | Rob |
So it should be done as soon as possible. T much of I want | Rob |
the coast should be for all NZ. | gerard |
Repealed !!!!!!!!!! Get rid of it and any other Act that is racially introduced and ignore threats and protests by Maori of any sort — if you can find one whose bloodline is 50% Maori or above — there are none !!!!! Matiu Rata started this problem in 1975 and it’s only got far worse. Do they want a revolution ?? If so it’s not going to go the way they want. EVERYONE I speak to or discuss the problems we are facing agree — WE HAVE ALL HAD A GUTSFUL of the Maori party and the inclusion of their so called language in every section of our lives. We were a happy country up to 1975 when that treacherous being Matiu Rata conned the Government of the time and introduce the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 which is based on a false treaty but that’s the one they use to further rubbish claims against the public of New Zealand. Further promoted by the WEF member Jacinda Ardern who is now named as one of the four Woke Tyrants of the world — a lot of us were too stupid to see what she was doing. | Alan |
The whole of New Zealand coastline belongs to ALL New Zealanders & any attempt by ‘Maori tribes’ to claim any of it should be stopped immediately. | david |
A half way solution will not stand up. Repeal is the only way | Charles |
Crown ownership of the coast is the only secure solution | Robert |
Repeal the law and reintroduce Crown ownership of the foreshore and seabed | Di |
I opose any legislation that entitles the Maori People to independantly manage any part of NZ | Susie |
At 80 plus I live in New Zealand and I am proud | Ken |
Then sack the woke legal court judges. | RICHard |
Crown ownership should be restored | Bonnie |
Democracy must overrule activists claim All New Zealanders must own the entire Coast and surrounding locality | leo |
The only option is to repeal the act as soon as possible | Robin |
The Prime Minister must immediately reverse the racially divisive situation created by John Key | Bryan |
Anything short of a repeal of this mis-conceived legislation would be a disaster, potentially creating a precedent for other claims against the Crown. | Lance |
The coastline of New Zealand is for all citizens of the country. Maori are greedy and once they have control of the coastline, they will strangle New Zealand to its kness. | Wayne |
GET A PUBLIC REFERENDUM TO DECIDE WHAT KIND OF Country New Zealanders want to live in so we can get on with life | Stan |
The intended MACA is still not suitable with the use of “tikanga”, which is subjectively interpreted by vested interests. | Kent |
We are living George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” AND “1984”, as is the rest of the world. Governments are running amok, attacking majority’s of citizens, solely to create the division the predator class wishes to ensue. | larry |
No one should the rights to the shoreline. It needs to go back to government control and belong to all NZers. | Marlene |
Immediately!! | Bruce |
The coastline should be freely available to ALL New Zealanders. | Gifford |
Put it back to what it was in 2004 so that ALL NZERS get the benefit, not just a sall radical minority, based on racial divide or apartheid. | M |
Keep the Law “simple” approach avoids unnecessary litigation. Ahhh but what will the activist Lawyers do instead? Get a real job! | Glenn |
The total marine and coastal area’s to be returned to all N-Z-ders and or Crown ownership. | Henk |
To protect against the biased agenda driven judiciary we need to repeal. | Peter |
We are all settlers. the land and sea belongs to us all. | Jenny |
Tikanga is a moving target. Maori ceded sovereignty, go their existing property protected (until sold) and became equal citizens in NZ | Craig |
For the sea and coastal areas to be used by all New Zealanders free of charge or interruption by Maori Tribal groups.. | Jim |
The entire marine and coastal area should be returned to Crown ownership and managed for the benefit of all New Zealanders | Bill |
only way left after the law has been bastardised. | Giles |
The coast should not be owned or controlled by anyone other than all the people of NZ. The original Foreshore and Seabed Act should be restored. | Kerry |
There is no need for an act as the resource belongs to New Zealand, not individual claimants. | Raymond |
Repealed without delay! | Alan |
Stop the rot! | Mark |
Stop the activists-now including judges | Anthony |
l can’t believe that we are in this situation!! | robin |
Amended to make absolutely certain that the intention of the original bill is upheld and that any reference to Tikanga is cancelled as it is never clear and unambiguous. Just what some activist can interpret it to mean. | COOKIE |
Anything less than repeating this APARTHEID lunacy is unacceptable and will ultimately foment big trouble in paradise. | Geoffrey |
We are all one people. | Grant |
There should be no wriggle room left for traitorous judges to slither through. | Russ |
The coast is owned by all New Zealanders. | Merv |
Repealed !!!! at once and for all. This gang of corrupt and malignent activists have to put in their place. | Michael |
It is not a difficult decision. It will be fought tooth & nail by activists & ethnoracists, but repeal & return to Crown ownership is the only way forward. better to fight the battle now before too much seashore & marine areas are handed over to competing Maori groups. | Mark |
Should be in Crown ownership, for the benefit of all generations of New Zealanders. | colin |
All this Maori stuff makes me sick, the beaches plus everything else in NZ belong to NZrs and the law needs to read in this way. Every one in NZ loves the beach every bit of it so I cant think how things would be if the Maori people took over control. Most of those radicals dont know which side of the bed to get out. | Barbara |
it should be for all New Zealanders to use, enjoy and benefit from. | Rachel |
The coastline should belong to the Crown on behalf of all New Zealanders | Peter |
Please act fast | Natalie |
Nobody can claim success unless it’s Helen and she got it right I guess Let’s give credit where credits due. | Maurice |
Fully agree with your posted comments and opinion | Donald |
Totally racist and undemocratic to the rest of NZ | Russ |
Put the act back so that the foreshore is owned by all New Zealanders, not by a minoritory group with dollar signs in their eyes full stop. Then everyone benefits,end of argument. That’s one thing that that the Clark government got right. Don’t tinker with it,do it right once and for all so it can’t be altered by next woke government. | Peter |
the coastline should be in the sole ownership of all the people of New Zealand, and Maoris should have absolutely no jurisdiction over it. | fred |
If Maori had full ownership of the Foreshore and Seabed would they be happy to pay for any foreshore disasters or damage from the sea? I think not. They only want the treasures not the responsibilities caused by their greed. | John |
It was a terrible law from the start. Ownership should have remained explicitly with the Crown. | Trevor |
Either the sea, and seashore and seabed belong to everyone or not. No compromise. | Duncan |
Absolutely should be repealed and returned to Crown ownership. | Graeme |
We are seeing step by step actions which amount to an ethnocracy being imposed across all NZ Institutions. This is akin to a noxious weed spreading out of control. Activist Judges are creating law above Parliament. The Luxon led Coalition must step up and show leadership and repeal all of this underhand greed. | Nigel |
Keep the MCA in public ownership. | Dave |
John Key should be scolded for allowing Chris Finlayson to make amendments to the Marine bill just to appease the Maori elite and we know just how greedy they are. The coastline of NZ should be owned by the Crown therefore giving free public access. | ken |
The foreshore belongs to all New Zealanders not only the tribes. | Shaun |
What a waste of time and money (which the country has not got). Return it to the crown for all NZ citizens to enjoy. | Kevin |
I can’t believe this situation?What is going on in this country? Seems there is a time coming when most of us will be evicted, | Peter |
The NZ coastline is for all New Zealanders…… not just a greedy few. | Kahn |
the foreshore and seabed should go back to crown ownership. | cliff |
The original intent of the Act has been lost because of activist judges who are stepping outside the law by allowing tikanga to be grounds for claimants to succeed. It’s Parliament which makes the laws, and the judges should apply the intention of the law, not distorting it by going outside the law. | Laurence |
The whole coastline of NZ BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE OF nz -not just the Maoris which were never a nation, always fought with each other, very rarely worked unless for the Elite members of every tribe (270 tribes continually fighting each other and who requested the Treaty because they were losing in battles (and being eaten) by the larger tribes who had guns. Look at them now. They haven’t changed except the rest of NZ IS PAYING FOR THEM. | Garry |
The sea shore and bed belongs to all New Zealanders | tony |
All New Zealanders. | Terry |
Returned to Govt ownership for all New Zealanders to enjoy. 100% of coastline needs to be returned full stop. NOW NOT TOMORROW. Activist Judges need to be retired or sacked asap. | Allan |
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! ONCE AGAIN WE SEE THE LAW IS AN ASS | MURRAY |
Repeale it. | Maurice |
The sooner the better. Crown ownership, absolutely ! | Alan |
Close the Gate , cant trust courts and judges | Tom |
One law for all | Simon |
Its interesting that the ‘peoples darlings’ John Key and Jacinder Ardern are responsible for most of the problems we now have, they have done this country a great disservice! | Allan |
Needs a very clear rewrite with no public funding for any appellants ,the public funded gravy train has to stop | Phil |
Repealed, but National will be too wussy to do it. | Pamela |
Racially activist judges should also be disbarred from practice. They are prejudiced and therefore cannot be trusted to act in the best interests of all New Zealanders | Koreen |
owned by the New Zealand people, for the New Zealand people. End of story. | judy |
The Act should be repealed with the with the existing successful claims being reversed and ownership of the foreshore being restored to the Crown. And, while they’re at it, tikanga and any other provisions based on race should be removed from our laws. | Alan |
Water, coastline and seabed are not the exclusive property of anyone but the common property of everyone, it is up to all of us to take good care of it. | alastair |
Seabed and foreshore should be placed under Crown Ownership and made available to ALL New Zealanders, and also to prevent any future possibility of the law being misinterpreted. | Noel |
To do otherwise is to surrender to statute law based on race contrary to the common law in 1840 when multiracial use was common | Robert |
big problems | graeme |
Testicular fortitude please Luxon & National; | Doug |
REPEALED ! Immediately | Bryan |
To return New Zealand to a Democratic country | David |
This is the only fair and reasonable option to make the Marine and Coastlines and it minerals to be enjoyed by all New Zealanders not a specific ethinicty | John |
Crown ownership is the only way to preserve the coastline for all New Zealanders, not just a chosen few. | Heather |
Patching up faulty bits of anything is only effective if the thing itself is basically sound. The M & C A Act is unsound and must be removed to return the situation to safety. | Murray |
MACA is to easy to manipulate for the benefit of iwi. New Zealanders deserve certainty regarding ownership of the coASTLINE, FORSHORE, SEA AND SEABED AND THE ONLY WAY TO GAIN THIS ASSUrance is by repealing MACA and reverting back t the Foreshore and Seabed Act. Helen clark did a lot of tyhings with which I disagree, but her stance on most Maori issues was principled and fair to all New Zealanders. | Chris |
The whole thing is a nonsense, an avenue for useful idiot judiciary clowns and insane corrupt Maori activists and tribes to turn NZ into the Zimbabwe of the South Pacific and a Third World Nation. | John |
Carbon Zero is absolute nonsense. – and – Their new world order is not news it is communism. Free car stickers available | Michael |
Finlayson folly. Put it back in Crown ownership. | Scott |
For all nz people under the same rights as one another | Terry |
SAVE OUR SHORES! “Restore the foreshore and seabed to public ownership” | Mary |
Our foreshore and seabed is for all New Zealanders. Key and Finlayson betrayed our nation. The division they so foolishly introduced needs to go. Repeal it! | Wendy |
Crown owned is public owned, not for an elite group | Gaye |
ASAP | Anthony |
Also, repeal every other APARTHEID act act statute going back to the 1975 TOW Act. | neil |
Make it crystal clear that the Foreshore and seabed belong to ALL New Zealanders | Tony |
It appears to be the only sure way to save it for everybody | Keith |
Helen Clark had it right.!!! That legislation should have been passed and the coastal areas should remain under the jurisdiction of the Crown instead of it being owned and controlled by a bunch of radical and greedy PART maoris. | bruce |
The coast belongs to all New Zealanders | William |
One country, one people, working together | John |
As the situation stands and the courts , and in my view, misinterpretation of what was originally intended, should be repealed. A continuation of judgements made will lead to untold misery and further division of this country. The progression of the numerous claims made is nothing more than a power grab by some Maori to the detriment of all other citizens of this country. It is shameful. | chris |
yes yes yes I gant believe this is really happening | anthony |
All Newzealanders have rights & those rights are all the same under our democracy! So the MCAA is available to ALL NEWZEALANDERS | Dominique Greenslade |
Maori weren’t even the original people in NZ but they’ve done their best to destroy any pre-history of NZ so they can keep sucking on the public gravy train… | Simon |
Return ownership to the crown for all New Zealanders | Peter |
The Coast line of New Zealand is for all New Zealanders. Time to put Maori in their place | Frank |
ASAP | Geoffrey |
The reasons are clearly spelt out in Muriel Newman%u2019s paper. The ownership of these marine and coastal areas should be returned to Crown ownership for the benefit of ALL citizens. | Hugh |
Repeal and stop this racist absurdity | Janine |
NZ for ALL New Zsalanders. No other way. | Bill |
Probably the only way now to ensure the Court does what the People of NZ voted for 20 years ago when the Key Govt was empowered but did not do what the electorate was promised once in power. | Trevor |
Its all too complicated and Iwi can take advantage of this. | Michael |
Time for Crown ownership to be reestablished | Andi |
It should be put back to Helen Clarks original legislation the foreshore and sea bed is for everyone. | Pete |
public access to all of the coast is best for everyone | John |
Needs to be back to the way Helen Clarke | lizzy |
N Z for ALL New Zealanders | Rayner |
Our shoreline and seabed belongs to all the people of N.Z. | Geoff |
Helen Clark got it right in 2004. All marine and coastal areas belong to ALL New Zealanders. Period! | Rodger |
MACA was a terrible piece of legislation from the get go. Key & “Phindlayson” did terrible damage to New Zealand’s race relations & opened the door for the greedy Maori “Elite” to advance their cause & line their pockets with taxpayer funded handouts. | Rex |
The NZ we knew is gone and I now fear for my grandchildren. Is there no end to this Utu? | Glenda |
I think the Coalition Govt should restore the Marine and Coastal Area Act to what Parliament had originally intended. | Rose |
If we were to repeal it the protest groups could cause havoc which we can do without at this time. My personal favoured option would be to Repeal it. | Albyn |
ONE law for ALL NZ’ers. NO bloody apartheid here thank you!!!! | Davem |
Our Coastline belongs to us all, it is ours to protect so NO to tribal interests who are only acting on their own interests. | Colleen |
Completely done away with. | neville |
The greedy tribal grab for NZ resources and coastal areas is outrageous and is being lead by self serving Maori activists. This needs to be stopped once and for all! | Greg |
The law should be “knowable”, by all parties. That is a fundamental principle of Westminster Law. Allowing tikanga, makes the law fundamentally unknowable, by the majority of New Zealands citizens and institutions. | davidf |
Pure greed by false usurpers using incorrect claims to seize land and water ways which are property of the people. They are not genuine first settlers rather have taken land wrongly decreed by mistaken legal Interpretation. Besides the Crown has control fairly for all since 1840 | mike |
New Zealand’s coast line and foreshore should be for the benefit of all New Zealanders. This desicion must be made by parliament and not by the judicial system. | Dennis |
If this Act is not repealed we risk the same situation as is now apparent with huge(?) payouts to Iwi for hydro electric use in the Waitaki Valley. | Susan |
Restore 2004 act | Graeme |
back to crown ownership!!!! | chris |
Repealed absolutely. It is simply another race-based fiasco!! | don |
NZs Coastline(s) should be in Crown Ownership. The End | Kevin |
One rule for all | Lindsay |
for all to enjoy | Dave |
I am sick and tired of this Maori v NZ stuff. Repeal MACA and lets unite the country where we are all treated equally as New Zealanders | bRUCE |
Another land grab instigated by Labour and Ardern/Clarke. Needs to be done away with. | Carl |
Just do what was intended . | Graham |
should be for all NZers | Colin |
The country cannot afford to lose this attempt to make things right and fair for all NZers. | Peter |
Anything else than total repeal would be to allow Maori to steal areas of of our foreshore and seabed which rightfully belongs to all NZers equally | Hylton |
The Foreshore & Seabed should be under Government control and available to all New Zealanders equally | Denise |
It is not the Tribe that wants the Marine and Coastal Areas but just few Dystopic, Delusional, Greedy, Tribal Corporate Oligarchs. We say again to them ” Back off the Electric Puha” !! Kiwi NOT Iwi. | Geoff |
Who do Maori think they are? If they want the foreshore then pay for it. | Garth |
Get rid of it so all kiwis can own foreshore and seabed | Clive |
This Act should never have been passed into law. It is very poorly constructed to adequately protect the interests of all New Zealanders. | Bruce |
put back into crown onership ASAP | nevkath |
It should never have been introduced in the first place. | John |
I don’t see what the problem is, an activist judge (who should never have been appointed and should be removed) made a decision which offends most NZrs and the National Party dosen’t understand what it should do? A real leader would know! | Rex |
There is no place in New Zealand for anything other than Crown ownership of water, waterways, foreshore, seabed, rivers et al. Maori rights to fish should be the same as for all other New Zealanders – no more no less. | Mike |
Back to where Helen Clarke put it! | Peter |
Definitely | Graeme |
Needs to go back to the foreshore owned by ALL New Zealanders | Vaughan |
We must rid the country of this John Key legacy and return the seabed and foreshore to public ownership immediately! | Roger |
Now | Wiremu |
The Coast and seabed belongs to everyone. We are ment to be one People , and race has nothing to do with it. no one can own the sea, or the beaches. | Don |
So………………………….. sick of Maori grievances. Time they gave the HAKA too….. jusy bluddy stupid bullying | Gill |
Unless it is repealed there will be no end to the horror stories already unfolding. | Trudy |
Labour green idiots responsible for all this madness. Ardern government just traitors. How can this madness have even come so far ? All based on “because we got here first we want apartheid” . Greedy corrupt Marxist pigs. | Lance |
Whatever will stop the coastal grab and preferably cancel past deals which do not at least satisfy the original requirements if not voiding all of the previous coastal settlments. | Don |
This is a must if you want a equality for all in this Country | Gary |
return to crown control for all nz’s | Chris |
This whole thing is completely out of control imagine if the Maori were successful in there claims no one could afford to use the sea without paying shipping companies would just not come to New Zealand there would be no more recreational fishing and I bet there would be no problem with sea bed mining once the greedy buggers got control It must be stopped immediately | Peter |
The law must be clear and Crown ownership explicitly stated. We cannot have this relitigated over and over. | Tony |
The treaty of waitangi says quite plainly, that the govermnent has the right to govern on behalf of all New Zealanders. Customary rights to the seabed and foreshore on behalf of one group needs to be abolished immediately. The old English saying “Give them an inch and they’ll take a yard ” certainly seems to be in play, here. It’s all part of the attitude of entitlement, I’m afraid. Perhaps some of these people with their hands out should actually consider going out and getting a job, rather than sponging of the taxpayers largess and creating resentment towards these “people of entitlement” along the way | Trevor |
Coastal New Zealand belongs to ALL new Zealanders not just one segment of the population being race based on Maori. Also, every part of New Zealand, including the seashore, sea bed, airspace above and the airwaves belong to all NZ citizens not just Maori. We must as a country remove all references to race based policy from our laws and government departments. | Trevor |
No one owms the Sea and Foreshore especially Maoris | Graham |
It should have never got to this situation. The sooner it is corrected the better. The Judges misinterpreting the Law ass they did was not carrying out the intention of Government. | Robyn |
Its divisive racist policy | alan |
Crown ownership of the coast should never have been repealed | David |
MACA has been a disaster. It is good to see that National is trying to fix the law, but it won’t work. Activist judges will see to that. The law should be repealed, the claims cancelled, and the foreshore and seabed returned to Crown ownership. | Maurice |
Tikanga should be removed from the NZ legal system, otherwise the whole thing will be corrupted. It is all a disaster. | Pauline |
Well done on the coalition’s initiative. It’s time they stood up to the activists. Chis Luxon needs to take a leaf out of Helen Clark’s book and say that while he understands iwi concerns, his job is to rule in the best interest of all New Zealanders! | Hugh |
Repeal the law and reintroduce Crown ownership of the foreshore and seabed – it is the only way to keep it safe! | Simon |