Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Justice, Tākuta Ferris, has hit out at the Government, demanding the Crown prove its rights to the foreshore, following the Marine and Coastal Area Amendment Bill, passing its first reading.

"Māori rights to the foreshore pre-exist the Declaration of Independence, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and any law that this House has ever made. That right still exists today,” said Tākuta Ferris.

“It should always have been the Crown coming to Māori to prove the rights they believe they have to the foreshore, not the other way around.

“Let’s not forget that Labour are complicit in this crime. In 2004, they passed the Foreshore and Seabed Bill, directly extinguishing the pre-existing rights Māori had to the takutai moana and enacting the largest land grab in Aotearoa’s history—a whopping 333,000 square kilometres of area.

“What this Government is doing today is reverting to Labour’s intent of confiscating the takutai moana. It is disgusting that they think their sovereignty of Parliament trumps Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

“The Marine and Coastal Area Amendment Bill shifts the goalposts for Māori to prove customary marine title to something that is near impossible, thus slamming the door shut on hapū and iwi and confiscating the takutai moana.

“It is a disgusting breach of Te Tiriti. This Government is bold in their deliberate reassertion of white dominance.

“The Government should be considered the applicant to hapū and iwi. I invite them to put their case forward to prove ownership of the takutai moana to us as tangata whenua,” said Ferris.

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