Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand
Media Release – For Immediate Release

6 July 2009

Reconciliation Foreshadowed in Foreshore and Seabed Review report

Catholic social justice agency Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand welcomes the Ministerial Review Panel’s Foreshore and Seabed Review report as a practical and pragmatic approach to one of the most divisive issues of recent years, which gives an opportunity for reconciliation.

Caritas was among the 85 percent of submitters calling for repeal of the Act, and favoured a return to the ‘longer conversation’ recommended by the Waitangi Tribunal in 2004. That recommendation had been for a negotiated solution which respected both indigenous property rights and continued public access.

Caritas Director Michael Smith said the Catholic social justice agency agrees with the Review Panel’s commitment to proposing solutions which have, in the words of the Review report, regard ‘to the overarching objective of the Treaty of Waitangi to secure a place for two peoples’.

“Our Catholic tradition recognises indigenous property rights and at the same time respects common use of the goods of the earth that God has created for the benefit of all. The Review report clearly recognises the desire of the majority of Māori submitters to find solutions which protect traditional rights while continuing to preserve general public access to the foreshore and seabed. Caritas and a large number of other Catholic groups and individuals had submitted in 2004 that it was possible to find such a solution, and we are pleased to have that acknowledged.”

Caritas initially favours the ‘mixed’ negotiated solution proposed by the panel. “Neither a nationally negotiated settlement alone, nor an approach based only on regional interests seem likely to deliver a timely and appropriate settlement in all circumstances.”

Caritas congratulates the approach taken by the National and Māori parties in working together to resolve this issue. “We recognise there are many complexities in the foreshore and seabed question, and considerably more time is needed for reflection and discussion before decisions will be reached about the way forward. However, we encourage the Government to adopt the recommendations of the Review Panel to repeal the Act and negotiate appropriate solutions.”

Michael Smith said rather than creating further division, the Review Panel’s report provides a clear path forward to reconciliation. “All New Zealanders love our coastal areas, and we all have strong emotions about their access and ownership. However, we hope that our society is able to move beyond the fear and tension of the 2004 debates, to a better grounded understanding of the issues, and through that to a better understanding of each other.”

Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand is a member of Caritas Internationalis, a confederation of 164 Catholic aid, development and social justice agencies active in over 200 countries and territories.

ENDS

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