New foreshore Bill should be full and final

Legitimate questions have been raised over whether the new legislation will settle the protracted controversy over foreshore and seabed, Labour’s Shadow Attorney General David Parker said today.

“The stated objective of the government (which includes both National Party and Maori Party members) of the new foreshore and seabed bill is to fairly settle the issue.

“It is perfectly reasonable to expect John Key on behalf of National to obtain an acknowledgement from the Maori Party, or for the Maori Party to offer, that the proposed legislation fairly settles the framework for foreshore and seabed claims,” said Parekura Horomia.

“Failure to achieve this would represent a failure by both the Maori Party and the National Party in their duties to the country to reach a fair and enduring outcome.

“The Labour Party has given National and the Maori Party a benign political climate to achieve a fair and enduring outcome.

“Labour has not and will not scaremonger over the foreshore and seabed issue the way the National Party did while in Opposition. The ‘Kiwi not Iwi’ billboard campaign National ran back in 2004 was wrong and divisive. Although we see irony in the similar billboard campaign now being run against National, we do not support that either.

“Labour has agreed that allowing the Court to award customary title (formerly called territorial customary rights) is appropriate. Labour said this in our submission to the review panel.

“This is an important process change. Previously a claim to a territorial customary right could be considered by the Court. If the Court found an unextinguished right remained prior to the F&SB Act, the Court could not confer it but rather the matter was referred back to the Crown for a negotiated settlement. This carried with it the risk that a future government could frustrate fair claims, which is why we backed giving the power to the court.

“While it is clear that the changes being made could have been achieved by amending the existing Act, and the decision to repeal rather than amend is a face saving exercise for the Maori Party, Labour has said we can go along with that too.

“Achieving full and final settlement of the legal framework for foreshore and seabed claims is important for our country.

“If this is not achieved in the more benign political environment that Labour has assisted in creating, then when will it ever be achieved?

“The Maori Party acting leader last week publically stated that ‘we will certainly be looking at it again’ and there would be “another time for our people to come back and have another go in the future”

“The Prime Minister stated earlier this year, “in the end if we can’t reach an agreement then the status quo will remain”.

“The Attorney General has said "I don't think people want to be relitigating this every decade".

“The Labour Party agrees.

“Why go through all this grief, and cost, if it does not fully and finally settle the legal framework for foreshore and seabed claims?

“How could either the government or the Maori Party call that a success?

“If the acknowledgement that the new legislation settles the framework fully and finally is not forthcoming, both National and the Maori Party will have failed in their duty to the country to settle this issue.

“We need to move forward as a country without rancour,” Parekura Horomia and David Parker said.

ENDS

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