Prime Minister John Key’s refusal today to rule out the possibility of iwi charging for access to the beach puts the traditional kiwi summer at risk of becoming a thing of the past, ACT New Zealand Foreshore & Seabed Spokesman David Garrett said today.
“The Attorney-General estimated that 10 percent of New Zealand’s coastline could come under customary title but no one knows for sure. There are backroom deals being done and it is time for the Government to be open with the New Zealand public,” Mr Garrett said.
“We have asked both the Prime Minister and the Attorney-General on a number of occasions whether Maori coastal owners will be able to charge for access. On each occasion they have refused to answer. The only possible conclusion is that the Government will allow Maori to charge other New Zealanders to access the beach.
“The situation that existed prior to the original Foreshore & Seabed debacle was the best and fairest way of managing iwi property rights over these areas. Labour overreacted in 2004 and now National is doing the same.
“ACT believes that the Foreshore and Seabed Act should be repealed but that ownership issues should be left to the courts to decide,” Mr Garrett said.
#1 by Mike Brooke on August 2nd, 2010
Hi, David,
It seems a ong time since you were in New Plymouth. Good to see you are trying your best to keep others honest.
If the foreshore and seabed is , in some cases, owned, so to speak, by white Europeans or other non-Maori and they wish to claim customary title can they do that and in the event that some foreshore is already owned by non-Maori can they, too, charge for beach access.
I am really peed off with them regurgitating the issue and whilst I don’t like the thought of expensive court cases being paid for under the legal aid scheme anything would be better than having that pratt Finlayson with all his previous baggage being the sole arbitor on the issue as he seems to be proposing.
Keep the pressure on.