Listen Now: 
October 24, 2025
Greens Back Burning of MACA Bill Over Māori Rights Breach
Atereano Mateariki
Posted On October 24, 2025
Download AudioGreen Party MP Huhana Lyndon has backed the burning of the Marine and Coastal Areas (Takutai Moana) Amendment Act, calling it a symbolic protest against the Government’s trampling of Māori rights.
Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee is considering whether to take action after Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and MP Tākuta Ferris burned a copy of the bill on Parliament’s forecourt the same day the bill passed its third reading.
Opponents of the bill also held burnings across the country on their local takutai moana, protesting changes that raise the threshold for Māori whānau, hapū, and iwi to apply for Customary Marine Title.
Successful applicants would gain resource consent veto powers on kaitiakitanga grounds.
Lyndon says MACA is one of a growing list of Government legislation that needs to be “put on the fire.”
“I want to pay tribute, as we were fighting it out in the house for the final reading on the MACA Takutai Moana, those whānau across the motu who gathered and burnt the bill on their own takutai moana. The Green Party is absolutely committed to upholding Te Tiriti. The fact that we have heard very clearly from the Waitangi Tribunal, from impacted claimant groups, from iwi Māori, that the MACA amendment legislation is such a massive takahi on Te Tiriti and Māori customary rights…” says Lyndon
Lyndon says this isn’t just legal—it’s about communities standing up.
The Greens are pledging to keep Māori rights at the heart of any future reform.
RELATED NEWS
