The ownership of New Zealand's coastline and the issue of customary title are shaping up as major political issues as the Government prepares to repeal the Foreshore and Seabed Act.
This week, we investigate coastal ownership and examine the implications of scrapping this contentious law. Land Information New Zealand has exclusively released detailed maps and statistics to the Herald about coastal ownership.
Today, in the fourth of a five-part series, we examine the areas of the Eastern Bay of Plenty and East Cape.
Negotiators for Te Whanau a Apanui are confident they will be back at the negotiating table by January if the Government pushes its foreshore and seabed repeal legislation through by the end of the year.
The tribe, which has major landholdings in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, will be able to show continued and exclusive use since 1840 of the adjacent foreshore and seabed.
Groups able to pass those tests qualify for customary title, measured from the wet sand out to the 12 nautical mile limit, which is inalienable and comes with certain rights.
Whanau a Apanui's interests follow the sweep of the Eastern Bay of Plenty coastline, while the neighbouring Ngati Porou tribe's boundary is from Potikirua, around East Cape and south to the Turanganui River in Gisborne.
Land Information New Zealand records show that from the settlement of Hawai, near Opotiki, to the Turanganui, Maori own 220.2km of land next to the foreshore, significantly more than the combined length of coastline under general title (48.6km) and held by territorial authorities and the Crown (123.4km).
Ngati Porou already has a signed deed, putting it at the forefront of foreshore agreements.
Te Whanau a Apanui has twice been on the cusp of a deal which would give it significant decision-making power.
On the first occasion, the tribe put off signing an agreement with the Labour government because it felt it was being rushed to make a 2008 election deadline.
The second delay followed the National-led Government's review of the 2004 act last year, and subsequent consultation on the repeal legislation.
The overarching principle of any agreement is Crown recognition of a tribe's "unbroken, inalienable and enduring mana" over the foreshore and seabed.
Te Whanau a Apanui lawyer Dayle Takitimu said that broadly, settlement had a number of "instruments" to express rights in a modern context,
It features:
* A statutory overlay to recognise the special status of the area to the hapu of Whanau Apanui. It ensures this status is recorded in public documents and is taken account of in Resource Management Act processes.
* A permission right: an ability to approve or withhold resource consent activity.
* An environmental covenant which ensures Opotiki District Council and Environment Bay of Plenty's statutory plans conform to a tribal sustainability statement.
* Relationship arrangements between hapu and Government ministers about how they will interact.
* A mechanism to manage customary fisheries and enact bylaws.
* Protection for waahi tapu.
* An instrument allowing hapu to erect "pouwhenua" [markers] at culturally significant sites.
* An ability to officially recognise traditional place names or alter names of culturally significant areas.
If the repeal legislation is passed by December, Te Whanau a Apanui should be back at the negotiating table by January with a June target for legislation.
"We've been assured we're the first cab off the rank," Ms Takitimu said.
"By June it will have been a seven-year journey.
"It won't be over because then we've got implementation, but at least it will secure our rights and our interests will be secure."
AGREEMENT
What the 2004 act did:
* Put the foreshore and seabed into Crown ownership.
* Denied Maori the right to go to court to prove ownership.
By the end of the year:
* No one will own the foreshore and seabed.
* Instead, it will be considered "public domain" until Maori can prove they own any part of it.
* If they can prove ownership, they will gain customary title.
* They can do that in two ways - apply to the courts to confirm, or negotiate directly with the Government.
* But to prove customary title, Maori must be able to show they have had continuous and exclusive use of an area since 1840.
