Iwi smarts over Government move

By RUTH BERRY political reporter

The Government rubbed salt in the wounds of one of the iwi which took the foreshore and seabed case yesterday when it confirmed it will challenge the validity of a seabed title the tribe says it was granted in 1883.

Ngati Tama spokesman John Mitchell said the decision would erode"what little confidence we have left in the Government at the moment, and it's not much".

"This is just another big land grab and anybody who owns a [foreshore or seabed] title should be very, very scared," said Dr Mitchell, whose tribe was one of eight South Island iwi to take the Court of Appeal case.

The case centres around the Wakapuaka Estuary in Nelson which Ngati Tama says it was given freehold title to by the Maori Land Court, then the Native Land Court, as part of title to a bigger block in 1883.

The tribe went back to court in 1986 to clarify title, but when the title was set to be handed over, in 1999, then-Conservation Minister Nick Smith blocked the move. He argued the land court did not have the jurisdiction to grant the title, which he said yesterday sparked the foreshore and seabed case.

The decision was deferred while the foreshore and seabed issue was heard by the High Court and Court of Appeal.

Since the Court of Appeal released its decision, Ngati Tama has repeatedly asked the Government to drop its application for a judicial review over the estuary title.

It has argued it has owned the title for 120 years, which makes the case distinct from new freehold title applications, which the Government has said it will not allow.

The Government has promised to protect existing foreshore and seabed freehold titles.

Yesterday, in response to questions by Dr Smith, Conservation Minister Chris Carter confirmed the Government would continue with the judicial review as it believed the land court had made an "administrative error" in 1986.