Turia Tariana: General Debate 
Turia Tariana: General Debate 
[Volume:635;Page:6302] 
TARIANA TURIA (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker tena tatou katoa. When we plot the path to nationhood the events of June 2003 are etched in our memory for it was in June 2003 that a landmark ruling from the Court of Appeal confirmed that the Maori Land Court had jurisdiction to hear claims to territory below the high-tide mark. The Court of Appeal determined that the Crown had never passed legislation to extinguish unilaterally Maori customary ownership in the foreshore and seabed. It found without a doubt that hapu and iwi could take cases to the Maori Land Court to verify the extent of their ownership. The judges ruled that Crown ownership was not completely certain and that it was possible that a claim to customary title could in some cases convert to a private title. 
But it was also in June 2003 that as quick as a flash the Government pounced in by righteously proclaiming a need to legislate to protect the foreshore and seabed supposedly for all New Zealanders. It went further by feigning protest that all it was doing was treating all New Zealanders in a fair and equal manner. What part of fairness can we understand for tangata whenua a group of people of New Zealand being denied their day in court? If the Government was looking for fair and equal treatment why then did the Waitangi Tribunal warn it that the Foreshore and Seabed Act breached human rights the Treaty of Waitangi and English common law by denying Maori the right to take their claims to court? 
 The Court of Appeal ruling would have allowed Maori to pursue claims to the foreshore and seabed through the courts. Labour shut that option down. Labour’s act of confiscation shut down any possibility of tangata whenua claiming customary title through the High Court—a right that had never been tested in a New Zealand court. 
So who was meant by “all New Zealanders”? It appears that “all New Zealanders” does not include those of Maori descent or other New Zealanders who attended the four national foreshore and seabed hui led by hapu and iwi and called for the right of access to the court to be preserved. “All New Zealanders” does not include the widespread community opposition opposition that the National Council of Women returned to in its press release last month supporting the repeal of the Foreshore and Seabed Act. 
Despite the futile hope that the events of 2003 and 2004 are but a painful memory the fact is that many New Zealanders are still hurting and grieving over the unilateral actions of a discriminatory Government regime. Delegates of the National Council of Women last month emphasised that all New Zealanders feel a special connection with the land. So strong was their conviction their key recommendation from their annual conference was to support the repeal of the Foreshore and Seabed Act. The council recognised that the Act was a case of discrimination against the human rights of tangata whenua and that there was an obligation to uphold human rights for all people. 
The sad fact is that the divisive actions of the Labour Government campaign and the conflict caused by the ongoing attempts at misinformation and misrepresentation are still creating friction today. I read recently a paper by Dr Maria Bargh in  
Kotuitui: 
New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online 
 which must inform this House. Dr Bargh a politics lecturer made the following remarks about events since June 2003: “The foreshore and seabed legislation is not the only statute aimed specifically at removing Maori culture rights and property. This episode is part of a sad and sorry history and it is essential now that we change the game plan so that legislation is not used in such a manner in the future. … It is not too late to repeal the Foreshore and Seabed Act and to conduct ourselves in a manner which is respectful of human rights and which fosters positive race relations.” 
We must have the courage to listen to this young Maori academic to listen to the judiciary to listen to the National Council of Women to listen to the Waitangi Tribunal and to listen to hapu and iwi—to listen and to learn. Polarised and political position-taking will not lead to nationhood. 
Let us honour the responsibility of this Parliament to bring the nation forward and to create the legal position that existed as a result of a Court of Appeal judgment in 2003. Let us repeal Labour’s Foreshore 
and Seabed Act 2004 
in its entirety thus enabling hapu and iwi to approach the courts if they so choose and let us be strong in our resolve to take on a long-term vision for Aotearoa.