NZCPR Newsletter: Door Opens for Tribal River Claims

Last week the Supreme Court delivered the second of its two-part judgement on the first Marine and Coastal Area Act case to progress its way through to our highest court.

In their initial judgement, which was released last December, instead of interpreting the law as Parliament intended so only a minority of claims for the coast would succeed, the Supreme Court took an activist approach by declaring that “tikanga” or Maori custom should be at the heart of all coastal claim decision-making. In doing so they virtually guaranteed tribal control of New Zealand’s coastline.

The second ruling, which also favours Maori, opens up the country’s waterways for tribal claim. While the decision only affects the beds of navigable rivers that form part of the coastal marine area – namely whichever is the lesser of one kilometre upstream or five times the river’s width at the mouth - it would nevertheless give Maori sovereignty activists a foot in the door.

NZCPR Newsletter: A Question of Sovereignty

Who’s running our country?

It seems like a simple enough question.

In New Zealand, our Parliament is sovereign. With National, ACT, and New Zealand First commanding a majority of votes in the House, the elected Coalition holds the reins.

But is it that straightforward?

NZCPR Newsletter: Protecting the Public Interest

History is replete with governments all over the world using nationalisation to protect a country’s assets and resources in the public interest.

The UK is currently in the throes of nationalising British Steel in the public interest. Established as a State corporation in 1967, British Steel was sold off in 1988, passing through a number of different owners – Dutch, Indian and Chinese – only to now face closure. With the steel sector vital for construction and infrastructure, the UK Government was worried that the loss of domestic steel production and an increasing reliance on foreign imports would weaken national security.

With threats to major assets and resources recognised as crucial triggers for Governments to introduce legislative safeguards in the public interest, surely it’s time the Coalition took action to protect New Zealand from the insatiable demands of tribal leaders and the corporate empires they now control.

Graham Adams: TVNZ hīkoi documentary needs a sequel

20 years on, judges are quietly awarding coastal rights to iwi.

Early this month, an hour-long documentary was released by TVNZ to mark the 20th anniversary of the land-rights march to oppose Helen Clark’s Foreshore and Seabed Act. The account of 2004’s hīkoi from Cape Reinga to Wellington — narrated by Tāmati Rimene-Sprout, who marched as a 10-year-old — is undeniably atmospheric and will certainly be rousing for those who support Māori nationalism.

For others, Hīkoi: Speaking Our Truth will look like the opening salvo in a propaganda campaign to head off attempts by the government to amend the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011, which repealed Clark’s legislation.

Eliora: Who Will Own the Coastline?

In 2009 the John Key National-led Government stripped away Crown ownership of the coastline to make it easier for Maori to make claims.

The tribal ownership of New Zealand by 2040, indicated in the He Puapua document, was a concerning issue leading into the election. The economy, education, crime, health, and business had been decimated by an inept and Marxist Labour Government. New Zealand’s depressing statistics in these areas can be turned around with a lot of work, good policies, and sound leadership. The deliberate division being engineered along racial lines, however, will be much, much harder if not impossible to reverse.

NZCPR Weekly: Warning Shots Over Foreshore and Seabed Claims

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we outline how the Marine and Coastal Area Act is failing New Zealanders and needs to be repealed, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Rex Beer shares his concerns about the lack of clarity in the law and the implications for the High Court claims process, and our poll asks whether you believe the Marine and Coastal Area Act should be repealed and Crown ownership restored through the reinstatement of the Foreshore and Seabed Act.

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