June 02, 2016
Kermadec plan undermines treaty
A parliamentary committee looking at the government's proposal to create a 62,000 square kilometre ocean sanctuary around the Kermadecs undermines the integrity of Treaty of Waitangi settlements.
Jamie Tuuta, the chair of the Maori fisheries settlement trust Te Ohu Kaimoana, says the sanctuary plan revealed by Prime Minister John Key at the United Nations General Assembly last year was in complete disregard to the 1992 fisheries settlement.
He says if the Government had consulted with Maori, instead of springing the plan on his predecessor Matiu Rei just hours before the speech, they could have negotiated a deal which would have allowed iwi to support the sanctuary.
He disagreed with the government’s assessment of the value of Maori fishing quota that are based on existing catch, because it’s a fishery still awaiting development.
Carl Carrington, the chief executive of Maori owned Aotearoa Fisheries, told the committee the way the politicians had deliberately undermined the rights of quota owners would affect the integrity of the quota management system and the amount iwi and companies were prepared to invest in the industry.
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