Foreshore ownership formula fiction

A Maori lawyer says the Government's proposal that there be no owner of coastal space is fundamentally dishonest.

Among the options for replacing the Foreshore and Seabed Act is to replace the Crown title to land below the high tide mark with a new concept of public domain or takiwa takiwa iwi whanui.

Annette Sykes from Ngati Pikiao says there are at least 42 laws managing the rights around coastal space which assume de facto ownership by the Crown.

She says the Government's position is immediately undermined by the mining licenses it has issued for coastal areas.

“Now if the Crown is saying they don’t own it and Maori don’t own it, when they discover minerals and there is royalties due, who is going to receive the royalties. If the Crown doesn’t own it, then they shouldn’t get it. If Maori don’t own it, we’re not going to get it, so who is going to get those royalties? Is China going to say ‘We have got a licence so we own it,’” Ms Sykes says.

The Government is holding at least 11 consultation hui on the foreshore and seabed proposal, starting in Marlborough on April 9.

INFORMATION LACKING ON RECREATIONAL FISH TAKE

The head of Te Ohu Kaimoana is calling for better accounting of what is taken by recreational fishers.

Ngahiwi Tomoana says if fisheries are to be managed sustainably, people need to know what is out there.

While customary and commercial fishers must account for what they catch, there is no requirement for recreational fishers to account for what they take ... even though for some species the total would be far more than the other two sectors combined.

“You can't really plan to have a healthy fishery in 10 years time if you don’t know what one sector is catching, and that’s the recreational sector, and there seems to be no political will or courage to find what they're taking,” Mr Tomoana says.

Ngahiwi Tomoana says politicians are afraid to go up against the large and well funded recreational fishing lobby.

APPLICATIONS BUT NO ACTION ON KAINGA WHENUA

The Kainga Whenua housing scheme is off to a slow start.

Chief advisor Maori, Tamati Olsen, says about 200 applications have been received for Housing New Zealand to guarantee Kiwibank loans build on multiply-owned Maori land, but none have yet been approved.

He says applying for kainga whenua money is arduous, with as many as eleven steps to go through.

“A lot of that is outside our control, the issues round multiply owned Maori land and licence to occupy, working between ourselves, Kiwibank, the Maori Land Court and local government to get all these things, it’s an arduous process,” Mr Olsen says.

Housing New Zealand is also selecting proposals for its Maori Demonstration Partnerships programme, which has a putea of $5.5 million in matching funding to back innovative housing projects put up by iwi of Maori trusts.

HIGH BAR TO PROVE CUSTOMARY TITLE

An expert on Maori law and resource management says the proposed rewrite of the Foreshore and Seabed Act puts an unfair onus on Maori to prove customary rights.

Auckland University law professor Ken Palmer says Maori have to prove they have a continuing interest in specific coastal areas through activities such as collecting shellfish.

He says it should be the Crown's responsibility to show Maori have abandoned their stake.

“The present act is not particularly attractive because it puts a huge challenge on Maori to prove their continuing existence with these particular coastal areas and it’s rather hard to do at the moment with other people using them and there’s a financial challenge of getting expert, getting lawyers, and of course trying to meet the Crown who have got endless funds on their side,” Professor Palmer says.

The Prime Minister's expectation there will be a relatively small number of claims could be way off the mark, as Maori will be keen to asset their ancestral relationships.

ENVIRONMENT CANTERBURY COUP PART OF WIDER ATTACK

Labour list MP Shane Jones says the Government's takeover of Environment Canterbury is part of a deliberate strategy to dismantle regional government in New Zealand.

Parliament under urgency last night passed the law replacing of Canterbury's regional councilors with commissioners.

Mr Jones says environment and local government ministers Nick Smith and Rodney Hide are moving resource management back into central government.
He says the new act gives the minister power to make decisions above the new commissioners.

“Our fear is that these commissioners will be pressured by the minister to reward the users of the water which is predominantly the agricultural community who have not shown a lot of interest in cleaning up their act in terms of cleaning up our streams and rivers,” Mr Jones says.

He says just as Mr Hide has done in the Auckland super city, authority has been taken away from democratically elected local representatives

MEN’S GROUP SPARKS INTEREST IN GARDENING

An East Coast mana tane roopu will be showing off its newly aquired horticultural skills at the region's first traditional Kai Festival at Whakarua park in Ruatoria on Saturday.

Event coordinator Rozanna Milner says the men's group formed through Ngati Porou Hauora encouraged members to share skills including fishing, hunting and eeling.

They also set up community gardens in Ruatoria, Tikitiki, Rangitukia and at Te Puia Hospital.

Rozanna Milner says seed funding for Saturday's festival comes from the sale of excess produce from the gardens, and the men have also formed a collective to supply a stall at the Gisborne farmers market.

Foreshore formula sparks backlash fear

Labour MP Shane Jones says giving hapu veto rights over coastal development will create a backlash.

The proposal is contained in a consultation document on possible changes to the Foreshore and Seabed Act released yesterday.

Mr Jones says after a long and expensive process, the National Government has ended up in the same place as Labour was in 2004 in terms of recognising Maori customary rights.

The main difference is it is reopening the door to litigation, and giving hapu the final say on coastal development if they can establish customary title.

“Without accountability, without professional structures, you can see all sorts of developments held up, and in fact unlikely to go ahead unless there is a transfer of wealth etc. Hapu are taking a very treacherous step if they think the public will tolerate them having veto rights without them showing any obligation to wider community,” Mr Jones says.

He says the National government is lowering the bar for iwi to prove customary rights, but it's also diluting the value of those rights.

MANA TRUMPS TITLE IN FORESHORE DEBATE

Meanwhile, Ngati Porou runanga chair Api Mahuika says recognition of mana is more important than title over the foreshore and seabed.

Options for replacing the Foreshore and Seabed Act released yesterday range from leaving coastal areas in Crown title, assuming it is under Maori title, or giving it a new status of public domain/ takiwa iwi whanui.

Mr Mahuika says Ngati Porou negotiated its own foreshore settlement based on tikanga and mana, rather than getting bogged down in arguments over title.

“The individualization of titles to land has resulted in alienation, confiscation, so what we are saying is the key to mana is it is an inherited right. Through that mana we then have a kaitiaki right which allows us to look after the foreshore, the land etc in our lifetime,” Mr Mahuika says.

He says the repeal of the Foreshore and Seabed Act will give the East Coast tribe the chance to renegotiate aspects of its settlement, which has been signed off but still not passed into law.

GROUPS KEEN TO JOIN INNOVATIVE HOUSING PILOT

Housing New Zealand has been flooded with interest from Maori groups wanting to undertake innovative housing developments.

Tamati Olsen, the corporation's chief Maori advisor, says 16 runanga have applied for the half dozen or so Maori Demonstration Partnerships.

Typical of the schemes wanting to tap into the $5.5 million putea is a Northland runanga that wants to build ten communal houses.

“The houses have chopped down living spaces so it’s more about sleeping in the houses and small living spaces and one big communal area for the whole of the ten houses,” Mr Olsen says.

Some asset rich, cash poor iwi have missed out because of a requirement partners put up half the cost of the project.

FORESHORE ACT REPLACEMENT FALLS SHORT OF IWI DEMANDS

The iwi leaders group is disappointed at the proposed replacement for the Foreshore and Seabed Act.

The group says the plan released for consultation yesterday may not satisfy the rights, expectations and values of iwi and hapu.

Matiu Rei from Ngati Toa says the offer doesn't acknowledge Maori mana over the takutai moana, and falls far short of the customary authority that was sought.

“The crown was never able to prove they had extinguished the title Maori claim to the foreshore and seabed so we’re not so happy there has been no recognition of our enduring mana over the foreshore and seabed,” Mr Rei says.

It's likely hapu and iwi will end up in court or negotiating with the Crown to have their rights recognised.

ALARMS RINGING ON SCOPE OF CANTERBURY COUNCIL TAKEOVER

Maori Party MP Hone Harawira says principles introduced in a bill for managing Canterbury rivers will effectively replace the Resource Management Act, to the huge detriment of Maori and the nation as a whole.

The Environment Canterbury Bill was introduced yesterday, a day after the Government sacked Environment Canterbury regional council and replaced it with commissioners.

Mr Harawira says the bill was sneaked into parliament during the foreshore and seabed debate as a local measure, but in fact it gives unelected commissioners total administrative power, cutting out the Minister for the Environment and the Environment Court.

“You are taking out of the hands of government agency an asset that has critical value to the whole nation and putting it in the hands of officials who are appointed by a Government hell bent on commercialising assets,” he says.

Mr Harawira says the asset grab won't stop at water but will include other minerals and natural resources.

IT’S IN THE BAG REVIVAL GOOD FOR TOOGOOD

The Toogood whanau from Ngai Tahu will be closely following the revived It's in the Bag as it moves around the country over the next three months

Spokesperson Kit Toogood says the family was happy to pass over the rights when Maori Television wanted to resurrect the quiz show, with up to 40 percent Maori language content.

His father Selwyn Toogood launched the series in the 1950s and continued it on television into the 80s, tempting thousands of contestants with the money or the bag.

“My father was very proud of his Ngai Tahu whakapapa and we thought it was an interesting proposition to take the show back to the smaller centres which is really where it originated, particularly in the radio days,” Mr Toogood says.

His late father would have been thrilled to see how much reo the mainstream audience at the pilot filming understood and how they responded to presenters Pio Terei and Stacey Morrison.

Filming starts in Dargaville on April 7.

Foreshore Act replacement takes shape

Iwi leaders are happy with progress made on replacing the Foreshore and Seabed Act.

The Iwi Leaders Forum met at Waitangi with Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson to discuss how work being done by Crown officials and forum advisers would translate into action.

Ngapuhi chair Sonny Tau says Mr Finlayson assured them the act would be repealed as soon as an alternative was ready, and the Crown would no longer insist it owned foreshore land until proven otherwise.

"Section 13 will be removed, that’s the ownership by the Crown, and the new Foreshore and Seabed legislation will contain a clause that gives the mana of the iwi status and that in terms of its management the Crown is happy to share that management,” Mr Tau says.

Maori will be able to go back to court to pursue their foreshore claims.

MOANA JACKSON PICKED TO HEAD IWI CONSTITUTION WORK

Meanwhile The Iwi Leaders Forum has established a working group to look at constitutional change, ahead of an official exercise run by the Government.

The Maori Party was promised a constitutional review as part of its support agreement with National.

But working group head Moana Jackson from Ngati Kahungunu says any terms of reference for such a review would be limited by the Crown’s views of its own power.

He says for Maori, everything starts from the Maori version of the Treaty of Waitangi.

“The view that I take is whatever constitution is established in this country is subject to Te Tiriti rather than Te Tiriti being subject to any constitution, which is what the Crown has tried to do for 160 years, so a Maori constitutional review would start from a different place,” Mr Jackson says.

The working group will talk with Maori around the country and draw together some of the work done by earlier generations.

NGATI AWA KEEN ON IWI INPUT TO LONG TERM PLAN

Ngati Awa has launched a campaign for iwi members to have a say in the future direction for the Bay of Plenty iwi.

Spokesman William Stewart says Ko Ngati Awa Te Toki was officially launched on Saturday, Waitangi day, and aims to make contact with tribal members worldwide using social networking web sites to create a collective vision for 2050.

He says the month long campaign is important to ensure a unified approach to tribal development over the next 40 years.

FORESHORE AND SEABED ROWN BASED ON FALSITIES

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says debate over the Foreshore and Seabed Act has descended into farce.

The Ngati Wai kaumatua was on the paepae on Friday when the Government was welcomed to Te Tii Marae.

During the welcome, Taitokerau MP Hone Harawira described the Foreshore and Seabed Act as a gigantic land grab that needed to be reversed, and Prime Minister John Key warned the Act could be left in place if Maori were unwilling to compromise.

Mr Peters says the exchange on the marae was a reminder of the danger of making promises that can’t be kept.

“The reality is if no land was taken after Foreshore and Seabed Act passed, if not one inch of land was taken from anyone or passed from anyone’s hands into anyone else’s hands, what on earth is Hone and the Maori Party talking about? It’s a great lie, a great fiction, which Mr Key thought he could accommodate. Now he’s finding what a farce this is,” Mr Peters says.

He says whatever the Government comes up with to replace the Foreshore and Seabed Act, the Maori Party and its supporters are likely to be disappointed because they have such unrealistic expectations.

WARNING GIVEN ON TONGAN HIKOI REPEAT

Meanwhile a Maniapoto man who encouraged hundreds of Pacific Islanders to go to Waitangi in the hope of getting residency has been warned against a repeat performance.

Gerard Otimi was at the head of a group of about 100 Tongans and Samoans who went on to Te Tii Marae on Friday, telling them just before going on that if questioned by media, they were to say they were there to celebrate the treaty.

When the Labour Party was welcomed later in the day, Waitangi kaimatua Kingi Taurua said his explanations of marae protocol seemed to have been misinterpreted as a promise to adopt people into the tribe so they could stay in New Zealand.

But Northland-based list MP Shane Jones said the misinterpretation seemed deliberate.

“Tongans, greetings. To all the Maoris bringing the Tongans here, our eyes are on you. Do not use the name of Ngapuhi, do not use this marae, and never use the Treaty of Waitangi to either mislead or bring expectations among our Pacific brethren that you will not be able to deliver. That is not the kaupapa of this day,” Mr Jones says.

KAINGA WHENUA COULD LEAD TO RURAL MARAE REPOPULATION

A co-ordinator of Maori economic development projects in many parts of the country Willie Te Aho says the government's latest housing initiative will let many Maori return their rural marae.

Mr Te Aho says the initiative under which the government will guarantee Kiwibank loans for Maori to build on multiple owned land is most welcome.

“A lot of our Maori people who drifted into urban areas are now looking at how to get back to their bases, the baby boomers and that, so this creates an opportunity for them,” Mr Te Aho says.

It will not only allow more Maori to build on land around marae but on any multiple owned land.

Circular language at Waitangi

Activity in the Bay of Islands will be picking up through the day, as manuhiri arrive for Waitangi Day commemorations.

Among them is an ope of Pacific Islanders organised by Ngati Maniapoto man Gerard Otimi ... who is facing charges for allegedly selling phony immigration documents.

A Waitangi Marae kaumatua, Kingi Taurua, says Mr Otimi told him the group is coming north to learn about the Treaty of Waitangi.

He says claims they are expecting help getting permanent residency by adoption into a Maori tribe may be based on a cultural misunderstanding.

“Maori is a circular way of speaking rather than a straight way of speaking. My way of speaking, I speak circular, and if I say whanau, it doesn’t mean I am going to put them in my house, If I say to 20 Tongans come and be my whanau, it doesn’t mean I am going to put them all in my house,” Mr Taurua says.

DOUGLAS OFFERING EARLY WORKFORCE EXIT OPTION

ACT's Maori Affairs spokesperson, Sir Roger Douglas, says the superannuation system is broken for Maori.

The architect of Rogernomics says instead of spending their energy on Treaty settlements, Maori leaders should focus on contemporary issues like education, health and superannuation.

He says Maori spend a lifetime paying tax for other people's superannuation, but because they are likely to die younger, few get to benefit themselves.

“If they were allowed to put it into their own personalised superannuation account they would probably retiree, many of them, with $1 million plus. How much better would that be than the sort of system that gives them $230, $250 a week for a few months or a few years,” Sir Roger says.

He also wants to see individual health insurance accounts.

MAORI CATEGORY ADDED TO RADIO AWARDS

The New Zealand Radio Awards are finally acknowledging Maori radio.

This year there will be a new award for Best Iwi Radio Station.

Past awards' judge Stacey Morrison it's a great way to get Maori stations to enter.

She says they'll be judged on broadcast quality, Maori language delivery, and on how they meet the needs of their target audiences.

Nominations are open until March, with the winners announced on May 6.

HOROMIA WARM ON ANCESTRAL LAND HOUSING PLAN

Former Maori affairs minister Parekura Horomia is congratulating the government for its new Maori housing initiative.

Under the under the Kainga Whenua scheme, Housing New Zealand will guarantee non-deposit Kiwibank loans of up to $350 thousand so people can build relocatable houses on ancestral land.

Mr Horomia says it's positive, but there are always risks in people taking on such large investments.

“Without being negative, I want to be sure our people get into housing, to own houses if that’s what they want to do but at the same time be realistic we don’t set them up to fail,” Mr Horomia says.

KAUMATUA EMPHASISES SUCCESS OF VALUES-BASED EDUCATION

The kaumatua of a Hamilton-based offender rehabilitation programme says it proved combining Maori principles with modern psychological methods was the way to beat youth crime.

The government has axed funding for Te Hurihanga because it says it is too expensive.

Pita Ngaru says the programme taught 14 to 17 year olds who have been serious offenders to understand the values of their ancestors and live by them.

“Those usual Maori values that we have, aroha, manaakitanga, wairuatanga and whanaungatanga, those values that were held so close by our ancestors, our tupuna, have been handed down and so these values have been instilled into young men,” Mr Ngaru says.

He says over time the programme would save the taxpayer money as it has a positive effect not just on the offender but his whanau, friends and wider communtiy.

HAUORA OFFERS BUDGET PHARMACY FOR MANUREWA MAORI

A pharmacy providing free and low cost medicine to Maori opens its doors in South Auckland this morning.

It's a joint venture between Raukura Hauora o Tainui charitable trust and new medicine services company Tihi Pharmaceuticals.

The operations manager, Wiremu Walmsley, says there will be no prescription charge for people under 18, and there will also be a free blister packs and delivery for elderly Maori.

He says the service at Raukura Hauora's Manurewa clinic will benefit a community hard hit by recession.

“A lot of our people can’t afford to get their scripts out because of low income and a lot of times the scripts stay thee in the chemist not getting picked up,” Mr Walmsley says.

Raukura Hauora hopes to open more pharmacies along the same lines.