Commission Heartened By Support For Maori Position

Te Ohu Kai Moana is encouraged to hear non-Maori advocating for a process of negotiation and compensation should their property rights be interfered with.

A Federated Farmers’ spokesperson has come out publicly saying farmers would expect open negotiations and compensation for any loss of property rights as a result of the Government extending access to the Queen’s Chain.

Commissioner Maui Solomon says Iwi are asking for customary claims to the foreshore and seabed to be treated in exactly the same way. Maui says “The Commission has always held the view that the legal rights of Iwi to the foreshore and seabed have never been extinguished.”

“If the government is going to extinguish or tamper with that right via legislation it should be done through a process of open negotiation with Iwi and with due compensation. Iwi are asking for nothing more and nothing less than what other sectors of the New Zealand community are asking for.”

The Commission is working with Iwi to develop some principles and a framework to work through the foreshore and seabed issues. It is also continuing to support Iwi at the top of the South Island who have spent the last seven years pursuing a legal claim to parts of the Marlborough seabed and foreshore.

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