May 10, 2018
Lawmakers ponder Ngati Porou foreshore deal
Recognition of the customary ownership by Ngati Porou hapu of foreshore and seabed around the East Coast is a step closer with the first reading of a bill today.
The bill puts into law the agreement first negotiated by the iwi with the then Labour Government a decade ago.
It was parked up while National and the Maori Party replaced the Foreshore and Seabed Act with the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act in 2011.
That Act means the agreement will now acknowledge customary title to specific areas, rather than so-called territorial customary rights.
Spokesperson Matanuku Mahuika says most people won't notice any difference.
"Even in areas where customary title is established, the hapu of Ngati Porou agree ordinary recreational uses of the foreshore and seabed are able to continue unaffected by any title that we might establish so mum, dad and the kids going to the beach during the holidays, those sorts of things, they're not affected," he says.
Matanuku Mahuika says the new law may make it easier for Ngati Porou to impose rahui for fisheries management or conservation, and it will also get a say on resource consent applications.
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