Maori rush to claim foreshore

By SIMON COLLINS

Maori groups have lodged claims for most of the east coast of the North Island since the Court of Appeal opened up the possibility of such claims on June 19.

The claims, which include the Waitemata Harbour and part of the Manukau, seek recognition of customary rights to use the foreshore and seabed, in some cases out to the edge of the 200-mile exclusive economic zone.

Other groups are preparing applications in a rush to stake their claims in the Maori Land Court before any Government move to change the law.

Last month, Prime Minister Helen Clark proposed a change to reassert state ownership of the foreshore and seabed, reversing the Appeal Court's ruling that iwi groups could assert customary rights through the Land Court.

But she later backed off and ministers are now reported to be seeking a compromise that will allow iwi to test their customary rights in the court.

Land Court chief registrar Shane Gibbons said yesterday that he had asked for reports from all regions on the number of foreshore and seabed applications received.

"If we are going to be flooded with applications, then it has implications for the resources we need."

A regional official said there had been nine new applications in the Tai Tokerau region covering Northland and Auckland alone.

The Kaitaia-based Te Aupouri Maori Trust Board has claimed coastal rights on both sides of the Aupouri Peninsula from Kaitaia to North Cape, and other claims from Ngati Kahu and Ngapuhi cover the east coast from the foot of the Aupouri Peninsula to the Bay of Islands.

Te Roroa people have claimed rights to the west coast from the mouth of the Hokianga Harbour to southwest of Dargaville.

Ngati Whatua have claimed the southern part of the Kaipara Harbour and the west coast from the mouth of the Kaipara to Muriwai, plus the whole of the Waitemata Harbour and the Manukau north of a line from the Cornwallis peninsula to Puketutu Island.

Ngati Wai activist Greg McDonald has claimed Pakiri Beach and the offshore area out to Little Barrier Island where Kaipara Ltd is seeking a permit to extract sand.

Outside the Tai Tokerau region, Te Arawa Maori Trust Board has claimed the central Bay of Plenty coastline from Papamoa to Matata, and Ngati Kahungunu have claimed the east coast from just north of Mahia south to Wellington.

Other claims lodged before June cover the Hauraki Gulf from near Leigh to Waihi Beach, the eastern Bay of Plenty from Hawai Beach to Cape Runaway, and two areas in the top of the South Island which provided the Appeal Court test case.

Ngati Whatua lawyer Te Kani Williams said the applications were "markers that the Crown will have to deal with" even if it changed the ground rules.

There was no intention to cut Aucklanders off from the Waitemata Harbour.

"It's certainly my belief at this stage that access to the beaches and foreshore of the harbour will be preserved," he said.

"I do not have any instructions about whether people are going to be charged. I'd be surprised, but that certainly can't be set aside."

Te Aupouri lawyer Grant Powell said the Appeal Court judgment overturned a longstanding injustice dating back to 1963, when Te Aupouri sought a Maori Land Court ruling on the iwi's customary rights on Ninety Mile Beach.

Anaru Kira, who lodged an application for the foreshore between Mangonui Harbour and the Bay of Islands, said iwi wanted to take control of the exploitation of their coastlines for marine farming.*

* CORRECTION: In the original version of this report, we incorrectly stated that Anaru Kira had lodged an application for Rangaunu and Mangonui Harbours.