Foreshore ownership rift widens

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National and the Maori Party appear increasingly at odds over the foreshore and seabed debate, as discontent grows within Maoridom over progress towards a settlement.

Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia has dismissed suggestions from Prime Minister John Key that a "public domain" concept could apply to the foreshore and seabed, by which neither the Crown nor Maori owned the land.

Mr Key has confirmed that having no-one own the foreshore and seabed is one of the options being discussed with Maori.

"It is a concept where you don't get into the emotional debate of ownership. Now it sounds a bit foreign when you think about it, but no-one owns the air, no one owns the sea and we live happily in that sort of environment."

But Mrs Turia said yesterday that she did not think any form of "public domain" option was acceptable to Maori. "I still believe this is an issue of justice and should be treated as such."

She also said Maori should retain the right to take their claim for ownership of the foreshore and seabed back to court, "if that's what they choose".

"Personally, if I was determining what was in the best interests of various hapu, then I think they have two options – they should either be allowed to go to court or enter into negotiations with the Crown."

The Labour government changed the law in 2004 to stop Maori taking the issue to court, and to vest the foreshore and seabed in Crown ownership, but National has agreed with the Maori Party in principle to repeal the law.

Litigation was not recommended by the review panel that considered the act last year.

Finding a replacement acceptable to both Maori and the Government is proving difficult, and Mr Key has refused to say how long it will take before a settlement is reached – or to table the options being considered.

Mr Key said co-management of the foreshore and seabed between Maori and the Crown was possible but, if no satisfactory solution could be found, the current law would remain in place.

Te Arawa lawyer Annette Sykes said her iwi would meet next week to thrash out the options. She believed others were doing the same.

"Everyone's coming home [from Waitangi] concerned, upset, worried. There are a lot of these meetings taking place."

She said only bigger tribes with settlements were involved in the negotiations.

- © Fairfax NZ News