Seabed and foreshore 'common area'

Legislation to replace the Foreshore and Seabed Act was introduced to Parliament this afternoon, taking the foreshore and seabed out of Crown ownership and declaring it a common area.

The new Marine and Coastal Area Bill will repeal the controversial 2004 Act and put in place a new regime allowing hapu and iwi to claim for customary title and rights, either in negotiations with the Crown or through the courts.

In an apparent bid to escape any taint of the term 'foreshore and seabed' after the controversy in 2004, the government has instead dubbed the area in question the 'marine and coastal area.' 

The bill will remove take the foreshore and seabed out of Crown ownership  - one of the most controversial aspects of the 2004 legislation. Instead it will be deemed a common area.

It is a different term from the original suggested 'public domain' which was disliked by some Maori who wanted more recognition of the Maori relationship to the foreshore and seabed.

The government had hoped to introduce the legislation in August but it was delayed for drafting reasons. A spokesman for Treaty Negotiations minister Chris Finlayson said it was still the intention to pass it into law by the end of the year. It will have its first reading in Parliament this week and go to select committee for public submissions.

The government outlined the main aspects of the legislation in June after extensive consultation both with the Maori Party and the iwi leaders forum. Although some, including Maori Party MP Hone Harawira, had pushed for an overarching form of Maori title over the foreshore and seabed, both the Maori Party and the iwi leaders gave their approval of the government's proposal as a compromise.

The introduction of the bill was delayed by at least a fortnight and both Maori Party co-leaders Pita Sharples and Tariana Turia are out of the country this week.

They will miss the first reading of the legislation despite the repeal being the cornerstone policy of the Maori Party since it formed in the wake of protest hui at the 2004 law.

Under the new bill, customary title can be claimed where the iwi has had exclusive use and occupation of the land adjoining the coastline since 1840.

The threshold test will mean many hapu will not qualify, although it is lower than the test for the highest level of rights in the current act which also requires ownership of the land. Attorney-General Chris Finlayson has previusoly estimated about 2000 km of coastline could meet the threshold - about 10 per cent of the entire coastline.

The bill also includes a guarantee of public access except where there are grounds to restrict it, such as on wahi tapu [sacred] land including burial grounds.

Some iwi - including East Coast iwi Ngati Porou, Taranaki iwi Te Atiawa and a grouping of Far North hapu - have already said they intend to seek customary title under the new process.

Prime Minister John Key has previously said it was likely very few iwi would be able to meet the tests for customary title.

However the Coastal Coalition, led by Dr Hugh Barr, has already begun a billboard campaign to halt the new law saying it goes too far, including using a variation on National's old ''Iwi/Kiwi'' billboards from 2005.

The Act Party also opposes it.

- © Fairfax NZ News