Post by Kiwi Frontline on Feb 22, 2018 6:40:46 GMT 12
TRIBAL PRIVATISATION THREAT TO OUR COAST
The Marine and Coastal Area (MACA) Act should be closed down, but instead it remains a privatisation threat to our coast. My Association, the Council of Outdoor Recreation Associations of New Zealand (CORANZ), has been concerned about attempts to privatise New Zealand’s foreshore and seabed since 2004. CORANZ has been a party to MACA claims since 2012, so we have built up extensive knowledge of the process.
The New Zealand Court of Appeal, in its controversial 2003 decision, said that Maori customary rights may still exist, in spite of New Zealand adopting British law, where the state owned the foreshore and seabed out to 3 nautical miles (nm) in 1840, and since 1977, out to 12 nm (22 km). That is, until the MACA Act was passed in 2011.
Crown ownership is essential for outdoor recreation, as it allows public access at will. In New Zealand, there is no charge to the public for access to the coast. In 2004, Helen Clark and her Labour Government, supported by Winston Peters and New Zealand First, decided against the race-based privatisation of our foreshore and seabed to iwi, after significant public consultation, reaffirming Crown ownership through their 2004 Foreshore and Seabed Act.
However, Chris Finlayson and John Key enabled iwi privation of our foreshore and seabed to tribal groups through the Marine and Coastal Area Act in 2011. Labour and the Green Party voted against National’s law change. New Zealand First was not in Parliament between 2008 and 2011 and so could not vote.
The MACA Act sensibly contained a termination clause for new claims after 6 years. This was ample time for cases to be registered and assessed. This deadline – 3 April, 2017 – has now passed. Up until then, around 30 claims were registered by tribal groups, but a number were refused because they obviously did not meet the requirements of the Act. These were for the strongest property right, called Customary Marine Title (CMT), which requires the tribal group to have exclusively used and occupied the claimed coastal and sea area from 1840 to the present day.
One claim that has met this condition, involves two small titi (muttonbird) islands off the coast of Stewart Island. So it is possible to meet the test........
Continue reading Dr Hugh Barr’s concerning NZCPR guest commentary here > www.nzcpr.com/tribal-privatisation-threat-to-our-coast/#more-25362
The Marine and Coastal Area (MACA) Act should be closed down, but instead it remains a privatisation threat to our coast. My Association, the Council of Outdoor Recreation Associations of New Zealand (CORANZ), has been concerned about attempts to privatise New Zealand’s foreshore and seabed since 2004. CORANZ has been a party to MACA claims since 2012, so we have built up extensive knowledge of the process.
The New Zealand Court of Appeal, in its controversial 2003 decision, said that Maori customary rights may still exist, in spite of New Zealand adopting British law, where the state owned the foreshore and seabed out to 3 nautical miles (nm) in 1840, and since 1977, out to 12 nm (22 km). That is, until the MACA Act was passed in 2011.
Crown ownership is essential for outdoor recreation, as it allows public access at will. In New Zealand, there is no charge to the public for access to the coast. In 2004, Helen Clark and her Labour Government, supported by Winston Peters and New Zealand First, decided against the race-based privatisation of our foreshore and seabed to iwi, after significant public consultation, reaffirming Crown ownership through their 2004 Foreshore and Seabed Act.
However, Chris Finlayson and John Key enabled iwi privation of our foreshore and seabed to tribal groups through the Marine and Coastal Area Act in 2011. Labour and the Green Party voted against National’s law change. New Zealand First was not in Parliament between 2008 and 2011 and so could not vote.
The MACA Act sensibly contained a termination clause for new claims after 6 years. This was ample time for cases to be registered and assessed. This deadline – 3 April, 2017 – has now passed. Up until then, around 30 claims were registered by tribal groups, but a number were refused because they obviously did not meet the requirements of the Act. These were for the strongest property right, called Customary Marine Title (CMT), which requires the tribal group to have exclusively used and occupied the claimed coastal and sea area from 1840 to the present day.
One claim that has met this condition, involves two small titi (muttonbird) islands off the coast of Stewart Island. So it is possible to meet the test........
Continue reading Dr Hugh Barr’s concerning NZCPR guest commentary here > www.nzcpr.com/tribal-privatisation-threat-to-our-coast/#more-25362
