Govt told to repeal Foreshore and Seabed Act

Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia has heralded a foreshore and seabed review as a landmark day in which ''the conflicts and divisions of the last five years can at long last be rectified''.

The 150-page report issued today recommends the controversial Foreshore and Seabed Act, which enshrined Crown ownership of the foreshore and seabed, be repealed.

Mrs Turia said the report recognised that the Act was ''indeed built on shaky foundations'' and must be repealed.

''[It] talks about a nation divided and it concludes the Foreshore and Seabed Act severely discriminated against Maori, took away our right to go to court, drew on legal tests developed in other jurisdictions foreign to our own country and was ... simply wrong.''

It also concluded the 2004 Act, passed by the former Labour government, had caused ''much anguish and concern to Maori''.

''Those words are the voice of reason the Maori Party has been waiting five long years to hear. The Act has to be the single biggest land nationalisation statute enacted in New Zealand history,'' Mrs Turia said.

The reports findings had caused ''a very emotional day'' for she and her Maori Party colleagues.

''This is a unifying document.''

Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples said the report contained some strong language, which was ''only right''.

It made up for being called ''haters and wreckers'' by the likes of former prime minister Helen Clark.

''When we came in [to Parliament] people said we had no chance of getting to this position here so we're excited.''

The Maori Party was born out of the Foreshore and Seabed protest movement. A review of the Act was written into its deal to go into government with National. While the government is yet to announce its position on the review,  repeal of the Act seems almost certain.

WHAT'S IN THE REPORT

The report said the law failed to recognise Maori property rights as recognised by the courts and advanced the general interests of the public at the expense of Maori.

It recommended Government recognise that Maori with traditional interests in the coastal area have some form of customary title to it and the public have an interest in access and navigation.

The panel sets out a number of possible options to achieve its recommendations including:

* Negotiated settlements within iwi and hapu;

* Allow the courts to settle title issues; and

* A mixed model of negotiated settlements at a regional and national level.

It proposed the Government start with a new interim law that would repeal the Foreshore and Seabed Act.

This should recognise some Maori have customary rights to some coastal areas and the public have rights of use and enjoyment.

''Both must be respected and provided within the limits necessary to accommodate the other,'' the report said.

The new law would set up principles and ways to settle customary interests and vest the legal title in the Crown until issues were resolved.

The review panel was headed by former High Court judge and Waitangi Tribunal chairman Eddie Durie, with other members barrister Richard Boast and Hana O'Regan, a Maori culture specialist.

The Act was one of the most difficult pieces of legislation the Labour government had to deal with in its nine years in office.

It followed a 2003 Court of Appeal ruling in the Ngati Apa case that it might be possible, in some instances, for Maori customary title to convert into freehold title where there had been continuous use since pre-colonial times.

That raised the possibility of parts of the foreshore and seabed being under Maori control, and fears that public access to beaches could be restricted.

The review said the Government made a mistake in not just appealing the decision if it did not agree with it or letting the courts sort out claims.

The Labour government decided to legislate against the ruling and after months of controversy and protest an alternative process was set up to recognise Maori interest in coastal areas.

The review said the vast majority of submissions were critical how the previous Labour government handled the issue and wanted the law repealed.

The Government hoped to make an initial response by late August.

- By TRACY WATKINS, Dominion Post, with NZPA