Foreshore, Seabed Proposals
Full legal ownership of the foreshore and seabed would be vested in the people of NZ under government proposals announced at the end of last year. There would be a public right of reasonable access for all, with the government responsible for management and regulation. Private titles in existence would be respected, but over "a long period", government efforts would be made to recover those titles.
The proposals would also see a form of customary title established to sit alongside the public domain title. But customary title would not lead to Maori ownership, and would not alter "reasonable and appropriate public access." Customary rights would also be recognised, and could include a commercial element.
A national commission would be established to consider Maori ancestral connections to certain areas, and 16 regional working groups would be set up to involve Maori in the management of coastal marine areas. Each working group would comprise representation from central government, local government and Maori.
The commission (comprising five to seven full-time commissioners) would move around NZ holding regional inquiries to establish which whanau, hapu and iwi hold mana where. This would probably take two years. It would then recommend to the Maori Land Court where customary titles should be issued. The court would notify all interested parties of the commission's recommendations and would provide a period of time for objections to be lodged.
In the event of an objection, the court would conduct hearings to determine the issue. If there were no objections, it would have the power to issue a customary title. This title would not impede access but would entitle the holder to greater participation in the decision making processes for managing the relevant resource than is available to the general public.
The Maori Land Court would also have the ability to annotate to the customary title specific customary rights at the whanau, hapu and iwi levels. Examples might relate to the extraction of sand, use of space for waka launching and preservation of burial sites. These mechanisms would replace the provisions of the Te Ture Whenua Maori Act and the High Court's common law jurisdiction in relation to these issues. The Maori Land Court would be given more resources to equip it for its new responsibilities.
Contact for Enquiries
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526, Wellington
Tel: 0800 00 83 33
Fax: +64 4 894 0720
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