Katene Rahui: General Debate 
Katene Rahui: General Debate 
[Volume:652;Page:1630] 
RAHUI KATENE (Maori Party—Te Tai Tonga) 
: 
 Today marks an extremely important milestone in the life of this Parliament—a watershed moment a line in the sand. Today is the day to heal the nation of the unrest that has stirred in the hearts of New Zealanders since 23 June 2003 the day that the previous Prime Minister and Attorney-General both publicly asserted that the foreshore and seabed was owned by the Crown. That assertion was an impetuous and ill-conceived reaction to the finding by the Court of Appeal that the iwi of Te Tau Ihu were entitled to go to the Maori Land Court with their claim for customary title over areas of foreshore and seabed in the Marlborough Sounds and extending to the limits of New Zealand’s territorial sea as defined in Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993. 
That reaction and the subsequent Foreshore and Seabed Bill caused considerable angst amongst iwi but also further afield. The Waitangi Tribunal found that the bill was inconsistent with the text and principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination requested that the Government respond to allegations that the bill racially discriminated. 
With the announcement of the terms of reference for the review today is an opportunity to have a good look at this whole situation. The issue was never about the fictional crisis that New Zealanders would not be able to go to the beach this Christmas. Tangata whenua have never denied others access. It is not part of our philosophy. Today it is time to redress the anguish that erupted in the wake of the Labour Government’s retrograde legislation to extinguish the customary rights of tangata whenua—the infamous Foreshore and Seabed Act. 
The fifth of May 2004 will be forever etched in my memory as the day that New Zealanders stood together to fight for the right simply to have our day in court and the right to due access before the law. We came together right across Aotearoa for the cause of access for the cause of justice and for the cause of nationhood. I remember that day vividly. Our entire law centre closed down so that we could march. We had five German law students interning with us and they marched as well. To a person they were aghast at this breach of human rights. 
It is not up to the Crown to legislate to change due process to suit the Government of the day. We never conceded consent to the Crown for the foreshore and seabed in the same way that we never conceded our hapu sovereignty. The Crown can never bestow mana on Maori. Iwi themselves hold that authority as mana whenua. It is their right to hold their authority over their seas their lands and their rohe. 
So it is that we have as of midday today set about a course to right the wrongs. This course of action is to review whether the current legislation enhances mana whenua and public interests in the takutai moana. It was a course of action we signed up to on 16 November 2008 in the relationship and in the confidence and supply agreement signed between the Maori Party and the National Party. In that agreement we made the commitment together to undertake a review of the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004. We believe that there is no apparent reason for treating Maori differently under the law in terms of the protection of their property rights. 
Effectively the review of the Foreshore and Seabed Act enables the nation to take a deep breath and to ascertain the nature and extent of both mana whenua and public interests in the foreshore and seabed prior to the Attorney-General’s action in 2003. It means embracing a situation that enables Maori access to the due process of law—nothing more nothing less. It is time for a good look at whether the Foreshore and Seabed Act is able to recognise and provide for customary and aboriginal title and for public interests and in doing so to work out such interests as demonstrated by Maori local government and business in the coastal marine area. 
As I said at the start of this speech today is a watershed moment in New Zealand history. My final word is to mihi to the eight iwi of Te Tau Ihu who decided at a hui at Omaka Marae in Blenheim in 1997 to take the action that was always about opening up the door to allow their voices to be heard. We welcome at last the chance to have the korero to open up the opportunity for New Zealanders to truly share in their aspirations for our nationhood. It is a chance that we must be brave enough to take up with open hearts and willing minds. Kia ora.