In 2011, the Key Government passed the Marine and Coastal Area Act as the replacement for Labour’s Foreshore and Seabed Act. The new legislation repealed public ownership and provided an avenue for iwi, hapū and whānau to claim customary title. Key and his ministers assured the public that the requirement to prove ‘uninterrupted' and ‘exclusive' use of the foreshore and seabed since 1840 would mean very few claims would be successful under the new law.
They were wrong. Hundreds of claims have been lodged for New Zealand’s shores. Our courts are still clogged trying to process them with the Government negotiating nearly twice as many behind closed doors.
sign the petitionThe Coalition Government is amending the Marine and Coastal Area Act to bring it into line with the Key Government’s original intention. This action must be supported - even though they could take it further. It is a step in the right direction.
Almost every square inch of New Zealand's coastline has been claimed, some parts many times over by multiple iwi.
The judiciary has used its power to interpret legislation to push the boundaries of the Act, making it increasingly unlikely for iwi claimants to fail. The amendment bill proposed by the Coalition Government sets aside the Court of Appeal and earlier High Court interpretations that strayed from the meaning Parliament intended. It will seek to restore the high thresholds of “exclusive” and “uninterrupted”.
Customary Titles are a property right much like ownership. Currently, holders of customary titles have a right of veto over all resource consents and conservation activities; involvement in coastal planning and policy development; the ability to charge commercial operators, restrict public access through wāhi tapu; and ownership rights to all non-nationalised minerals – including royalties from existing mining operations, back-dated to when the application was first submitted.
The law is meant to protect recreational fishing, navigation, and public access, but in practice this is not the case. We have seen fishing competitions shut down, boulders placed across entrances to beaches, and entire beaches shut off to public access.
Customary title holders can shut off parts of the coastline to the public through declarations of wāhi tapu (area of spiritual significance). Additionally, rāhui is used to