Fear that iwi could charge for surf events

David Round says that giving Maori title over the seabed and foreshore could affect recreation events such as surfing. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Giving Maori title over the seabed and foreshore could result in charges for commercial recreational activities, such as surfing or surfcasting competitions, says a controversial legal academic.

David Round, a law lecturer at the University of Canterbury, said that if any form of title was given to Maori - or anyone other than the Crown - it was likely iwi could charge for any commercial use of that area.

Writing in a Centre for Political Research newsletter, he said: "The humblest surfing or surfcasting competition will have to grovel and pay. Any grant of title will result in a charge paid to the new landlords. That is as sure as eggs are eggs."

He also expressed doubt about whether any guarantees of free public access would survive over time.

Mr Round is outspoken and known for sometimes controversial views on the Treaty of Waitangi and customary Maori rights.

He was a National Party candidate in 2005, when the party campaigned against race-based funding or special treatment for Maori.

Maori Party MP Rahui Katene said Mr Round's comments were ill-informed and alarmist.

She said the review made it clear access rights would be protected and she would be "very surprised" if recreational activities were not included.

"I'm not going to say that one iwi is or isn't going to do that. But I would be very surprised if anybody would ever see or try to make a commercial opportunity out of that sort of recreational activity."

But she said the situation was different for purely commercial use.

"If there is going to be a commercial opportunity there that somebody is going to make money out of, then why shouldn't the landowners get some of that as well?"

Mr Round told the Herald he admittedly had a cynical viewpoint.

"That's a reasonable suspicion isn't it? As I understand it ordinary members of the public would have the freedom to wander, but from what I've read so far, any commercial operation might well be in a different category."

He said he would expect any new law to cover royalties from operations such as electricity generation, oil drilling, mining and marinas.

"A line will have to be drawn somewhere and it could well be that these modest things, the surfcasting and surfing competitions, are on the same side of the line as the oil drilling."

This year, Ngai Tahu imposed a permit system and conservation levy on commercial eelers in Lake Ellesmere of 8 per cent of the earnings from their take.

It was given ownership of the lake bed in its Treaty settlement in 1998.

Prime Minister John Key has repeatedly said public access was a "bottom line" for any agreement.