Speech: Rahui Katene - Foreshore & Seabed Review
te-pati-maori
Wed Mar 04 2009 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Speech: Rahui Katene - Foreshore & Seabed Review
Wednesday, 4 March 2009, 3:54 pm
Press Release: The Maori Party
General Debate; Wednesday 4 March 2009; 3.30pm
Rahui Katene, MP for Te Tai Tonga
Today marks an extremely important milestone in the life of this Parliament; a watershed moment, a line in the sand.
Today is the day to heal the nation of the unrest which has stirred in the hearts of New Zealanders, since June 23 2003 – the day that the former Prime Minister and Attorney General both publicly asserted that the foreshore and seabed was owned by the Crown.
That assertion was an impetuous, and ill-conceived reaction to the finding from the Court of Appeal, that the iwi of Te Tau Ihu, were entitled to go to the Maori Land Court with their claim for customary title over areas of foreshore and seabed in the Marlborough Sounds, and extending to the limits of New Zealand’s territorial sea as defined in the Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993.
That reaction – and the subsequent Foreshore and Seabed Bill caused considerable angst amongst iwi – but also further afield.
The Waitangi Tribunal found the Bill was inconsistent with the text and principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination requested the Government respond to allegations that the Bill racially discriminates.
Today, with the announcement of the terms of reference for the Review, is an opportunity to have a good look at this whole situation.
The issue was never about the fictional crisis that New Zealanders would not be able to go to the beach this Christmas.
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Tangata whenua have never denied access to others: it is not part of our philosophy.
Today, it is time to redress the anguish that erupted in the wake of the Labour Government’s retrograde legislation to extinguish the customary rights of tangata whenua, the infamous Foreshore and Seabed Act.
5 May 2004 will be forever etched in my memory as the day New Zealanders stood together, to fight for the right to simply have our day in court, the right to due access before the law.
We came together, right across Aotearoa, for the cause of access, for the cause of justice, for the cause of nationhood.
I remember that day vividly – our entire law centre closed shop so that we could march. We had five German law students interning with us and they marched as well. To a person they were aghast at this breach of human rights.
It is not up to the Crown to legislate to change due process to suit the Government of the day.
We never ceded consent to the Crown, for the foreshore and seabed. In the same way we never ceded our hapu sovereignty.
The Crown can never bestow mana on Maori – iwi themselves, hold that authority as mana whenua – it is their right to hold their authority over their seas, their lands, their rohe.
And so, Mr Speaker, we have as at midday today, set about a course to right the wrongs.
That course of action is to review whether the current legislation enhances mana whenua and public interests in the takutaimoana.
It was a course of action we signed up to on 16 November 2008, in the relationship and confidence and supply agreement signed between the Maori Party and the National Party.
In that agreement we made the commitment, together, to undertake a review of the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004.
We believe that there is no apparent reason for treating Maori differently under the law in terms of the protection of their property rights.
Effectively, the review of the Foreshore and Seabed Act enables the nation to take a deep breath, and to ascertain the nature and extent of both mana whenua and public interests in the foreshore and seabed prior to the Attorney-General’s action in 2003.
It means embracing a situation which enables Maori access to the due process of law, nothing more, nothing less.
It is time for a good look at whether or not the Foreshore and Seabed Act is able to recognise and provide for customary and aboriginal title and public interests. And in doing so, to work out such interests, as demonstrated by Maori, local government and business, in the coastal marine area.
As I said at the start of this debate, today is a watershed moment in New Zealand history.
My final word, is to mihi to the eight iwi of Te Tau Ihu – who decided at a hui at Omaka marae in Blenheim in 1997, to take the action which was always about opening up the door to allow their voices to be heard.
We welcome, at last, the chance to have the korero, to open up the opportunity for New Zealanders to truly share in their aspirations for our nationhood. It is a chance we must be brave enough to take up with open hearts and willing minds.
ENDS
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