Government forced to slow down on foreshore law

By RUTH BERRY, political reporter

The Government had planned to begin drafting its foreshore and seabed legislation within two weeks of tomorrow's submission deadline, according to an August Cabinet minute released yesterday.

But a spokesman for Prime Minister Helen Clark confirmed yesterday that the issue had "moved on" since the paper was written - a week before the Government's discussion document was released.

The Government now expected to take longer to analyse submissions and begin developing its revised policy, which would shape the legislation, he said.

On Monday, Helen Clark refused to give any timeframes around the Government's plans.

She previously brushed aside statements by Fisheries Minister Pete Hodgson that the Government would introduce legislation by the end of the year.

But the Cabinet paper, together with confirmation of a delay, provides firm evidence that the Government has been forced to change its handling of the issue.

Several Government sources confirmed yesterday it had been taken aback by the extent of opposition to its plans and the complexity of the issue.

Crown Law was to provide by October 17 its revised plans to lawyers of a number of iwi and hapu which have asked the Waitangi Tribunal to inquire into whether they constitute a modern-day treaty grievance.

Grant Powell, a lawyer representing a number of those groups, said lawyers had yesterday sought urgent confirmation from Crown Law about the timeframes.

The tribunal had signalled it intended to undertake a "very comprehensive inquiry" into the proposals, requiring lawyers to complete a substantial amount of work, Mr Powell said.

The scheduled hearing next month would not be possible if the plans were not ready by mid-October, he said.

A delay in policy development was ultimately a good thing, as the issue had always deserved more consideration that the Government initially appeared willing to give it, he said.

But why Crown Law had agreed to the hearing date half way through the consultation hui, when the need for a slower timeframe was already clear, remained a mystery, he said.

The mid-October timeframe is the only new information contained in the August minute and an accompanying Cabinet paper of funding and process issues, released in response to an Official Information Act request on the formulation of the Government's foreshore and seabed discussion document by the Herald.

In a letter to the Herald, Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen said most of the information requested on the issue related to work still under development. He was therefore declining to release it to protect the "confidentiality of advice and the free and frank expression of opinion".

Tai Tokerau MP Dover Samuels meanwhile said resolution of the issue was central to the path of nation-building and provided a challenge to all New Zealanders.

"Maori customary rights and Pakeha customary rights can live together."

Mr Samuels has held four hui in the Far North and will hold another four, including one in Kaipara tomorrow.

Whanau and hapu speaking at the hui so far - which were attended by between 80 and 100 people each - had made it clear their "whakapapa rights are sacrosanct".

They also believed the supposed protections of those rights in the Resource Management Act and other pieces of legislation did not work.



The groups wanted partnerships with local authorities to ensure better management of the coast.

Mr Samuels said changes to pieces of legislation creating those partnerships would provide more immediate and positive changes than if the Government simply left whanau and hapu to go through the Maori Land Court.