Please note that I have found the questions difficult to answer given the understandings held by Christian World Service. Please indicate the name and sector or area of interest of your group Christian World Service is the development, aid and justice agency of the Conference of Churches in Aotearoa New Zealand Please tell us the nature of the business your company is involved in Development, aid and justice agency Questions Four basic principles 1) Do the four principles cover the appropriate concepts, and provide a basis for legislation on the foreshore and seabed? No. 2) Should they be adjusted or amended in any way? Why? Yes. They do not respect the agreement made by the Crown under Te Tiriti O Waitangi. 3) Are there other principles that could be useful? How might they assist? Honouring Te Tiriti O Waitangi and respecting the rights of the tangata whenua. Principle of access 4) Can you outline any further legal or practical limits on public access that have not been identified? If so, do they need to be addressed? N/A 5) Option 1: Do you consider it appropriate to legislate a general right of access across private titles, after giving private title holders an opportunity to seek an exemption? Why? Why not? No. There needs to be a fair consultative process by the Crown with the Treaty partners and those hapu and iwi who did not sign Te Tiriti. 6) Option 2: Do you consider it appropriate for the government to set in train a process to identify private interests that restrict public access, to decide if there would be public benefit in obtaining access, and to negotiate with the owners on ways to improve public access and use? Why? Why not? No. There needs to be a fair consultative process by the Crown with the Treaty partners and those hapu and iwi who did not sign Te Tiriti. 7) Are there any other approaches that that you think should be considered? What are they? There needs to be a fair consultative process by the Crown with the Treaty partners and those hapu and iwi who did not sign Te Tiriti. Principle of protection 8) Do you have any practical examples of Maori customary interests in the foreshore and seabed that are still in practice, and have been since 1840, and are not already covered by legislation? (Note that customary fishing, including the taking of shellfish, is already provided for in legislation) This is for Maori to decide. 9) Option 1: Do you consider it is appropriate to build on existing systems in current laws and practice to enable Maori customary interests to be acknowledged? Why? Why not? Not at this time. There needs to be a fair consultative process by the Crown with the Treaty partners and those hapu and iwi who did not sign Te Tiriti. 10) Option 2: Do you consider it is appropriate to design a new system to investigate and record Maori customary rights in the foreshore and seabed? Why? Why not? Not at this time. There needs to be a fair consultative process by the Crown with the Treaty partners and those hapu and iwi who did not sign Te Tiriti. 11) Should a new system be based in the Maori Land Court? If not, where should it be based? No comment. 12) Do you have any comments on how a new jurisdiction should operate? No 13) Do you agree that customary rights should be able to be held by whanau, hapu and iwi? Yes. 14) What do you consider could be the effects of recording a customary right? Our concern is that Maori will not be consulted appropriately in this process and therefore cannot define how such rights will be recorded. 15) Should there be a new status created to acknowledge mana over, or ancestral association with, an area of foreshore and seabed? This is up to Maori to decide. 16) Are there any other approaches that should be considered for enabling Maori customary interests to be acknowledged? This is up to Maori to decide on the basis of a fair and considered consultation process. Principle of certainty 17) Are there other issues that will cause uncertainty or administrative difficulty? If so, how might they be addressed? The current process is contributing to increased uncertainty especially for Maori and it seems that the government has given a false expectation of future settlement in the near future. The experience of the Waitangi Tribunal suggests that this cannot be the case and that it would be better to establish of clear dialogue that contributes to the public's general understanding of the issues at stake. General 18) Are there any other issues you would like to comment on? (Attach additional pages if required) See above.
Gillian Southey, Back to foreshore and seabed information.
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