Clark hits out as foreshore policy likened to Mugabe land seizures

Prime Minister Helen Clark has criticised a former Maori Land Court judge for likening the Government's foreshore legislation to the actions of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.

Retired judge Ken Hingston made the comments at an Anzac Day service in Rotorua.

Mr Mugabe has been condemned by the international community for interfering in the judicial process and backing land confiscations without compensation.

The Prime Minister said Judge Hingston was going too far.

"That is an example of the extreme and over-the-top rhetoric that is driving most of New Zealand nuts," she said.

In his speech Judge Hingston said the foreshore and seabed legislation epitomised all that was wrong with New Zealand.

"Is it fair to take foreshore and seabed only from Maori? Pakeha and corporates who now hold foreshore and seabed title keep theirs," he said.

The "confiscation" was inequitable and wrong, he said.

Judge Hingston has been a key player in the foreshore issue. On the Maori Land Court he had jurisdiction to hear claims for land below the high tide mark.

The Court of Appeal eventually supported his judgment as ownership of coastal areas was not as clear-cut as the Government thought.

The Court of Appeal also believed it might be possible for some customary claims to convert to private title in limited circumstances.

The Government has now decided to legislate for Crown ownership, while allowing Maori a more limited ability to take claims to the courts.

Judge Hingston was critical of the Government's proposals at a hui held to discuss them, saying they were frustrating the legal right of Maori.

Helen Clark said yesterday that she had also found it a frustrating process.

"I find the whole business since the Court of Appeal decision frustrating, because it gave rise to expectations that were completely unrealistic and also gave rise to views and opinions that couldn't be substantiated."

- NZPA