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Thursday, July 25, 2024

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 25/7/24



While media are focused on child abuse, the Govt signals legislation to clip judges’ wings and restore Customary Marine Title rules

The news media and political commentariat have feasted on the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care – tabled in Parliament yesterday – and the Government’s immediate response to its findings and recommendations.

Bryce Edwards listed a raft of the resultant media headlines on the Democracy Project website this morning.

Among them:


There have been many more media reports today and no camouflaging of a clamour among journalists for the Government to reconsider its establishment of boot camps and restore a place for the Treaty of Waitangi in legislation which governs the work of Oranga Tamariki.

There have been many more ministerial statements, too.

They include news of an initiative plainly aimed at having our laws written by Parliament rather than determined by judicial activists. Stand by for a howl of opposition to this one, announced by Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith.

Latest from the Beehive

25 JULY 2024


Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.


The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title.


Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet.


After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks.


The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island.

24 JULY 2024


Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa.

Speech


Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come.


For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture.


The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care.


With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit.


Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child.

Paul Goldsmith – explaining the proposal to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title – said Section 58 of the legislation required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied an area from 1840 to the present day, without substantial interruption.

“However, last year the Court of Appeal in Re Edwards made a ruling which changed the nature of the test and materially reduced the threshold.

“The Government does not agree with this change, and wants to ensure the wider public has confidence these tests are interpreted and applied consistently.

“Customary Marine Title gives the holder valuable rights, including refusing resource consents in the area, such as for renewals of some private assets like wharves, or aquaculture expansion.”


All New Zealanders have an interest in the coastal waters of our country, Goldsmith said.

That’s why Parliament deliberately set a high test in 2011 before Customary Marine Title could be granted.

As part of National-New Zealand First coalition agreement, the Government has agreed to propose legislation which will ensure these tests for applications directly with the Crown or through the Courts are upheld as originally intended.”

These measures include:
  • Inserting a declaratory statement that overturns the reasoning of the Court of Appeal and High Court in Re Edwards, and the reasoning of all High Court decisions since the High Court in Re Edwards, where they relate to the test for CMT.
  • Adding text to section 58 to define and clarify the terms ‘exclusive use and occupation’ and ‘substantial interruption’.
  • Amending the ‘burden of proof’ section of the Act (section 106) to clarify that applicant groups are required to prove exclusive use and occupation from 1840 to the present day.
  • Making clearer the relationship between the framing sections of the Act (the preamble, purpose, and Treaty of Waitangi sections) and section 58 in a way that allows section 58 to operate more in line with its literal wording.
Cabinet also agreed that the amended section 58 test should be applied from today’s date, if enacted, Goldsmith said. This will be reflected in the proposed legislation.

“This means existing CMT decisions will continue to be recognised.

“All undetermined applications as of today’s date, would, if Parliament enacts these amendments, be decided under the clarified test.

“This would include the limited number of applications currently before the High Court that have been heard but where there are no judgments.”


Goldsmith said the Government acknowledged that the Courts are required to apply the Court of Appeal’s decision until Parliament legislates to amend the Act.

If enacted, judgments made after today will be overturned.

Drafting of the Bill is under way. The Government’s current timetable is to seek Cabinet’s approval for introduction of the amendment Bill in mid-September.

Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton

1 comment:

LANCE DONALD said...

Finally the Government is acting to stop the iwi takeover of our coastline. Unfortunately there is still a massive amount of work for them to do in reversing the maorification of NEW ZEALAND!
Of course the Apartheid Enthusiast swill be squealing their usual racist garbage but that is music to my ears.

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