To those who may have been in some doubt about the wisdom and fairness of John Key and his cohorts devolving ownership of ‘The Foreshore and Seabed' to Maori, doubt no more. The gross greed and acquisitiveness of some Iwi endeavouring to gain ownership of Mount Maunganui shows that the guarantee given by Maori that all their trust lands will be available for access to all New Zealanders Is questionable at least. Members of some Iwi, in Northland and the East Coast have already blocked off areas of the coast from free access and in some cases required ‘Koha' (payment) for access.

Maori presently have a large number of claims for long stretches of coastline which, if granted, will give them full control of any commercial activities and enable them, by claiming these are of spiritual or cultural significance, prevent public access. In 2012 there were 16 single claims in the North Island and 3 in the South Island and 2 multiple claims in the North Island. The sad fact is that the aggressive and avaricious attitude of a few members of Iwis has led to many New Zealanders distrusting all Maori. It is amazing how many spiritual and cultural sensitivities can be appeased by Koha.

Bryan Johnson, Omokoroa.