Marine bill win draws line in sand

Photo / Alan Gibson

Iwi rights in court to claim customary title of the foreshore and seabed will be restored, after the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill was passed yesterday.

But that part of the bill was about the only aspect with cross-party consensus, amid cries of racism and snipes between the Maori Party and its former colleague Hone Harawira.

The Act Party, meanwhile, was accused of being caught in a right-wing warp somewhere between Sarah Palin and Margaret Thatcher.

Even the bill's supporters could not completely agree; Attorney-General Chris Finlayson said the matter was now finished, but Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia expected the law to be reviewed in the future.

At the final hurdle, Mr Harawira almost failed to vote - again - against the bill over which he split from his former party.

"My spirit cannot support this," he said in te reo, when asked to cast his vote. He would not have registered his vote had the House not granted leave to give him another chance.

The bill passed by 63 votes to 56 as Maori in the public gallery broke into a waiata.

The bill repeals the 2004 Foreshore and Seabed Act and restores access for Maori to the courts. Iwi can also negotiate for customary title with the Government. The foreshore and seabed - except what is already in private ownership - is now public domain that cannot be sold, and the public is assured of free access.

The test for customary title will be to prove continuous use and occupation since 1840.

Leaving the test to the courts to decide - a position supported by Labour, the Greens and Act - would lead to years of uncertainty, Mr Finlayson said.

He lamented the at-times misguided debate."I never once met one iwi leader who wanted to stop the public going on any customary title area."

He criticised the Act Party as "not knowing whether to be tea-partiers or classical liberals: Sarah Palin or Margaret Thatcher."

Mrs Turia fired thinly-veiled shots at Mr Harawira, saying it was sad the bill was used to "create division - both within Parliament and indeed within our own party".

Mr Harawira said the Maori Party had "betrayed" the people who put them in power by supporting "the continued confiscation of Maori rights to the foreshore and seabed".

Act tried to delay the bill by putting up 700 questions to MPs, but most were ruled out of order.

TAKUTAI MOANA

* Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill passed yesterday by 63 votes to 56.

* Supported by National, Maori, United Future parties.

* Opposed by Labour, Greens, Act, Chris Carter and Hone Harawira.