Recently around 600 claims for tribal customary rights to most of our coastline were lodged under National's Marine and Coastal Area Act.

If approved, tribal claimants will gain rights akin to ownership, including being able to veto Resource Management Act applications, declare wahi tapu to prevent public access, and mine the non-nationalised mineral resources in the area.

Many of the claims were made to the High Court, see: http://tinyurl.com/mmz8kzj
Since the public can register objections to those claims, citizens with an interest in our coasts should register as an interested party with the court asap, so they can object to claims later. If no-one objects, the court may well find in favour of the claimants.

It appears the closing dates on the claim advertisements are indicative only. Therefore it is not too late to register as an interested party even if the stated deadline has passed.
Googling these two articles will refresh readers' memories about this dreadful legislation and the avalanche of claims, ‘A Tsunami of Claims Hits the Foreshore and Seabed' and
‘Will the 2011 Marine and Coastal Area Act now start stealing our beaches?'

Doing nothing is not an option – our coast and all the wealth that it contains is under threat from tribal opportunists.

G Parker, Whangarei.