Katene Rahui: General Debate 
Katene Rahui: General Debate 
[Volume:664;Page:11743] 
RAHUI KATENE (Maori Party—Te Tai Tonga) 
: 
 The headline that greeted us yesterday “Peace deal on beaches” was worlds apart from a tumultuous period of our history. It is only right that as MP for Te Tai Tonga I mihi to the eight iwi of Te Tau Ihu who first sought declaration from the Maori Land Court that the foreshore and seabed within the Marlborough Sounds are Maori customary land. They had the precedent of the mid-1860s when the Native Land Court accepted applications to determine title of customary land—land held by Maori in terms of tikanga Maori. In 1997 Judge Hingston ruled that the Maori Land Court had jurisdiction to consider whether foreshore and seabed are Maori customary land. His finding was appealed to the Maori Appellate Court to the High Court and then to the Court of Appeal. Exactly 7 years ago on 19 June 2003 the Court of Appeal unanimously held that the Maori Land Court could determine the status of the foreshore and seabed under Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993. 
The reaction of the then Prime Minister and the then Attorney-General was rapid beyond belief. The day after the Court of Appeal decision Helen Clark informed the country that steps would “be taken to confirm absolute Crown title over the foreshore …”. She was instantly backed up by Margaret Wilson who claimed that “Ownership of the foreshore and seabed had long been considered to lie with the Crown” conveniently neglecting to say who exactly thought that way other than themselves. From then on peace would not prevail for 7 long years. 
Within days of the Labour Government’s knee-jerk response the movement was ready to act. Lawyer Moana Jackson spoke for us all when he said that the Government had denied Maori the right to a fair trial and that it would create a festering sore. John Key reflected that concept just this week in addressing what he described as the weeping sore of the 2004 Foreshore and Seabed Act. 
The Treaty Tribes Coalition—representing most of the North Island iwi the Taranaki Maori Trust Board and Ngai Tahu—laid a complaint with the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination stating that the act of confiscating the foreshore extinguished Maori rights. The committee upheld the complaint confirming that the legislation and the extinguishment were indeed racially discriminatory. 
So many acts of brave opposition and courageous protest have led to this day. No one can erase the memory of 40000 New Zealanders marching on this Parliament calling all of us to account. But there are other unique events. Hauraki kaumatua Toko Renata Te Taniwha returned his Queen’s Service Medal as a protest against the Government’s handling of the issue. The Ratana movement made its first ever submission to Parliament arguing that the foreshore and seabed legislation contributed to the legislative erosion of the Treaty. Some 3946 submissions were presented to the Fisheries and Other Sea-related Legislation Committee; 94 percent of them opposed the legislation. 
Will peace be retained? The Maori Party campaigned to repeal the 2004 Act and to restore due access to justice. On both counts we have done well. But that does not mean the fight is over. Maori have the right to seek customary foreshore and seabed title which would bring benefits similar to freehold title rights including commercial development rights and veto over other developments. Iwi and hapu are now able to claim customary title through the High Court or negotiations with the Crown. There is now an opportunity for universal recognition mana tuku iho. That is significant. The Crown acknowledges the mana of iwi and hapu as enduring and inalienable. A line in the sand has been drawn. The 2004 Act will go down as appalling law. 
Our rights to justice have been restored but there is still much to watch over in the drafting of the legislation to ensure it expresses the Treaty relationship. We must see hapu rights protected alongside those of iwi. The legislation must set out the nature of the development occupation and usage rights that Maori will enjoy—the actual rights. We will be actively putting up the case for those whose relationships with the foreshore were affected by raupatu fraudulent land transactions or other breaches of the Treaty by the Crown to be recognised. Maori did not march just to repeal this discriminatory legislation; Maori marched for justice. We as the Maori Party will continue to do all that we can to ensure that justice is done.