Hikoi 'more serious' than 1975

Organisers of a foreshore hikoi which was to leave Cape Reinga this morning for Parliament say the trek is more serious than Dame Whina Cooper's famous 1975 land march.

Mike Smith - veteran Maori protester and organiser of the march's Whangarei leg - said the hikoi, like the 1975 march, was a form of passive resistance.

Dame Cooper gained fame and honours when she launched the march to make Pakeha aware of Maori land right concerns.

"This has a similar tone but this is far more serious because it's the biggest land grab since the 1850s," Mr Smith said.

"People say that land taken from us is ancient history and that it doesn't happen any more but it is happening right now with this bill."

The march is due to finish in Wellington on May 5 around the same time that Parliament is likely to vote for the first time on the bill. It comes two weeks after the Government proposed a law that will place all foreshore and seabed ownership in the hands of the Crown.

It will also allow Maori or Pakeha to gain limited recognition of their customary rights to the foreshore and seabed if they can prove continual use since 1840. Maori groups will be allowed to have their ancestral connection to the coastline recognised under the Resource Management Act.

The bill has angered many Maori, prompting Far North Maori activist Hone Harawira to organise the march.

Mr Smith yesterday said he had "positive responses" and hoped there would be a "massive turnout".

He said it was a "public issue" not just a Maori one.

Members of the Far North east coast iwi who say they are the acknowledged owners of some of New Zealand's most popular beaches are to join the hikoi.

Ngati Kahu say "desperation" to protect their Far North beaches from sale to wealthy foreigners and billionaires has driven it to start its own march against proposed Government foreshore and seabed legislation.

Iwi members and supporters will leave Mangonui early tomorrow morning and walk along State Highway 10 to Kaitaia to join the main march at Kaitaia later on Friday.

Just before Christmas last year, Ngati Kahu issued a public welcome to all New Zealanders to visit the 13 most popular beaches in the Far North which the iwi claimed had always belonged to them, and always would.

Last night, Te Runanga a Iwi o Ngati Kahu chair, Professor Margaret Mutu, said that welcome would always be guaranteed as long as Ngati Kahu were the acknowledged owners of scenic beaches like Coopers Beach, Cable Bay, Taipa Beach, Matai Bay, Tokerau Beach and Hihi.

However, she said that if these and other beaches become Crown property under Government legislation, no one could guarantee they would not be sold to overseas owners and access restricted to wealthy foreigners.

- NZPA, additional reporting Tony Gee