Media Release

22 April 2004

Jones Offers To Explain Legislation To Brash

New Zealand First has offered to explain the foreshore and seabed legislation to Don Brash so that he does not continue making a fool of himself publicly over it.

Justice spokesperson Dail Jones, an experienced property lawyer, said today that he had studied the Bill in depth and could not find any of the problems raised by Dr Brash in a speech today.

“The legislation vests the public foreshore and seabed in the Crown as its absolute property.

“In keeping with the requirements of the Court of Appeal decision in the Ngati Apa case, the Bill states that any person who can establish an uninterrupted use of the public foreshore or seabed back to 1840, to be recognised with status in the resource management process as an ancestral connection.

“Customary rights have to be proven in the same way – back to 1840. Dr Brash obviously has not read the Bill and I recommend clause 42 to him. His speech indicates to me that he has not grasped the difference between ancestral connection, customary rights orders or territorial customary rights (section 29).”

Mr Jones said he found Dr Brash’s interpretation of the legislation as either naïve or mischievous.

“As far as the definition of tikanga Maori is concerned, it is clear he has no experience in reading statutes. He should read the interpretation section where he will discover that the phrase is given the same meaning as section 4 of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993.

“I would be happy to explain the legislation to Dr Brash,” said Mr Jones.

ENDS

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