The Marine and Coastal Area bill has the possibility of taking 100,000 square kilometres of foreshore and seabed from Crown (all New Zealanders) ownership/stewardship and transferring it into Maori ownership. One stroke of the pen and its all gone, one third of the land area of New Zealand.
We all own the foreshore and seabed at this time and have done so since the Maori translation of the Treaty of Waitangi was signed by 540 chiefs in 1840. The Maori translation, Te Tiriti o Waitangi does not talk of foreshore and seabed and neither does it speak of fisheries and forestry. Prime Minister Key is intending to write legislation that compounds the growing apartheid we now see in New Zealand.
The control and financial benefits which can conceivably run into trillions of dollars should remain as a benefit to all NZ citizens not just a few.
Maureen J Anderson, Pyes Pa.
Posted: 10:07am Fri 25 Feb, 2011
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Posted on 26-02-2011 09:00 | By The Master
We should all state our IWI, as we are nearly all "indiginous" we have a "born with" right to do this. If we are all "Maori" then all of this debate and any other debate related all become surplus to requirements and of course we can all stick our heads in the trough and feed at will.
The big bad Maori's
Posted on 27-02-2011 11:36 | By trtr1
Dear Maureen, Whoever told you that by giving back the ownership of the F.S and seabed to local iwi as guardians would mean that the foreshore and seabed were 'taken'. Will they be gone? no. Will you as a member of the public and citizen of NZ be able to enjoy the seaside as per normal? yes. Where are u getting your misinformation from? The treaty of Waitangi does in fact state that the guardianship/'ownership' of the foreshore and seabed are to REMAIN in Maori hands. The foreshore and seabed come under a term called pataka kai or mahinga kai. It's clear for you to read if you took the time to upskill, re-educate and broaden your horizons by learning the national language of Aotearoa New Zealand (according to our founding document T.O.W english is only a defacto national language as everybody speaks it). The wording in the English version has you confused so maybe you should educate yourself on the whole treaty and not half. Perhaps you could research areas of NZ where the foreshore and seabed have be restored to local iwi and see that for kiwis this makes little difference as you can still enjoy it as you used to, swimming, fishing, sand castle building etc. The restoration of the foreshore and seabed can only bring possitive outcomes if we are so bold as to seek out the truth about the reasoning for this. Did you stop to consider what it means for Maori (now that you know nothing is being taken from you)? This means a lot to Maori people as the national laws on foreshore and seabed can at times block our cultural practices, now this is something to be concerned about. e.g when there is a tangi the whole community come together to lessen the burden of the grieving family by providing as much for them as possible like say fishing and diving for food for the family and morners who've come from a far. But because of the qoutas, that do not consider our culture, this blocks our culture. this step that the govt want to take would show Maori that NZ is becoming to see the value of the Maori culture and language for all New Zealanders Maori and Pakeha alike. It's ignorant people like you who winden the gap in race relations in NZ.
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