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A representative of a cluster of East Coast hapu says the rights of hapu could be compromised by a bill confirming Ngati Porou customary title and rights over the foreshore and seabed along the East Coast.
Marise Lant presented a submission to a select committee hearing in Gisborne this week on Nga Rohe Moana o Ngati Porou Bill.
The bill will give Ngati Porou a say on resource consent applications in the areas over which it has customary title and it will also be able to propose bylaws to restrict or ban fishing for either sustainability or cultural reasons.
But Ms Lant says her hapu haven’t given Te Runanga O Ngati Porou a mandate to speak about their mana whenua rights.
"We’ve got applications before the high court as well as the tribunal and this bill, if it goes through, is going to hamper that if not remove our ability to question some of these methods our iwi are using. What’s currently within the runanga’s bill is going to disenfranchise and in some events even alienate our right to have our say," she says.
Ms Lant wants an opt out clause so hapu can remove their territory and take it through the court process in the Marine and Coastal Areas Act.
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