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A submission on 'Government Proposals for Consultation: The Foreshore and Seabed of New Zealand' from Catriona Budge.

I write this submission as a Pakeha. I am a Scottish emigrant who believes that the right to settle here was given by the tangata whenua of this land of my adoption. Te Tiriti o Waitangi agreed to settlement and specified conditions for that settlement. The Treaty also offered a welcome to those who would come later and I am glad to hold myself in that place.

In this submission it is stated the issue of the Foreshore and Seabed 'ownership' is a constitutional matter and that establishing a constitutional framework based upon Te Tiriti o Waitangi would be a satisfactory way forward to settle this dispute and others.

It is submitted that:-

  • The Government set aside their claims to absolute authority and examines the relationship between Governance by the Crown and Tino Rangatiratanga of Hapu and Iwi as defined in Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

  • The Government initiate a two-way dialogue with Hapu and Iwi. They will stop defining Maori values and traditions in their own terms and will listen with respect to what is being said by the Hapu and Iwi about the rights and responsibilities, which are held in sacred trust from their tipuna.

  • A constitutional framework will be negotiated, as an outcome of this dialogue. The constitution will establish a relationship between the Government and Hapu and Iwi, in which consistent recognition of Maori rights is a fundamental part of the process of governing. This will bring justice and therefore peace and stability to our society.

  • Discussion and information will be encouraged among all groups in the country to bring understanding and participation in the change process. Then there would be rejoicing in a Government, which sought justice and a vital relationship with ALL citizens.

  • DEMOCRACY is mockery, while a Government justifies defending its power by claiming that it is acting for the common good and denying the rights and responsibilities of the indigenous people of the land and their citizenship.

    • Catriona Budge
    3 October 2003

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