English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:610;Page:7555] 
3.  
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Leader of the Opposition) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Is it still her intention as she said last Thursday to “give a further indication of Government thinking …” on the foreshore and seabed this week or will she confirm reports that she has now delayed releasing those plans until next week? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK (Prime Minister) 
: 
 As I said in the House last week this is a complex issue and I was not prepared to commit to a precise time line. The Government will put out its proposal for consultation as soon as possible. 
Hon Bill English 
: If the Prime Minister was unwilling last week to commit to a time line why did two of her Ministers say that the Government would outline its position this week and why has there been a delay? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: If the member referred to the answer I gave him last week he would see I said that like Mr Tamihere I hoped it would be possible to give a further indication of Government thinking next week—which is now this week—but that given the complexity of the issues I was not prepared to commit to a precise time. 
Dail Jones 
: What recent reports has the Prime Minister received from her officials about the views of the leader of the ACT party Mr Prebble the leader of the National Party Mr English and the leader of United Future Mr Dunne—their views from 1988 to 1993 relating to this issue and to Maori land and seashore issues generally? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: I have not received any reports from officials. I see the odd thing in the newspaper. 
Hon Richard Prebble 
: Is it just a coincidence that the Government is planning to issue a report on land access issues to coincide with the Government’s response to Maori claims for the foreshore and seabed and is the House right to conclude that Labour is using this Maori claim as a justification to seize private property rights; if that is wrong will she give a public assurance to this House that no New Zealander Maori or non-Maori will lose any property rights without full compensation? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: I know that conspiracy theories are always preferred to coincidence theories but it so happens that the Minister of Agriculture and Minister for Rural Affairs has had a working-party under John Acland working on this issue for quite some time. However I do want to commend ACT and its leader for at least being consistent on this issue. I note that the member who asked the question has already drawn attention to the fact that another party in this House seems very concerned to deal with the issues only as they concern access on land that might be Maori rather than in general. 
Metiria Turei 
: Further to Mr Prebble’s question will the Prime Minister commit to tabling the land access review and the seabed and foreshore consultation document at the same time so that the public can get a balanced view and understanding of the access issues rather than simply the racially divisive rhetoric currently promoted by other political parties? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: I cannot say that the two will come out at exactly the same time because I know that the member for Aoraki Jim Sutton has already received a report which he is getting printed and wants to release in due course. But I would assume that some people consistent with their belief in one standard of citizenship will want exclusive Crown ownership of these areas for every part of the foreshore and seabed. [ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: This is a serious issue. I want to hear the question. I am not going to be interrupting this House again; I will be asking members to leave. Questions will be heard in silence. 
Hon Peter Dunne 
: Given her reported comments today lamenting the erosion of the Queen’s Chain is it the Government’s intention in resolving the foreshore and seabed issue to bring together if not at the same time then at an analogous time legislation that gives New Zealanders comprehensive protection over all aspects of public access to lands that have traditionally been regarded as being in the public domain? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: It may not exactly be an erosion of a right but rather that we have tended to assume a lot of things in this country that may in the final analysis not have a secure basis in law. My understanding—and I have not yet seen the report—is that the Land Access Reference Group suggests that the Queen’s Chain is far from complete and that is an issue that the Government should address. 
Hon Bill English 
: Can the House take it that with the Government’s emphasis in recent weeks on access it is not going to deal with the issue of who owns our beaches? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: What the Government has consistently said is that it does not want to see over what has been traditionally regarded as part of the public domain exclusive private fee-simple title created. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Given the Prime Minister’s proud boast that she is a leader who front-foots issues why on earth is she not prepared to take the public of this country into her confidence rather than her having secret covert meetings behind closed doors with some of her junior Maori colleagues? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: I am always happy to meet all colleagues in this building and not in Courtenay Place. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Clearly I should have been in a gay bar where the Labour Party and half the press gallery would have been happy for me to be. 
Hon Bill English 
: Does the Prime Minister accept that every day she delays taking action more time and money are being wasted by claimants in the Maori Land Court who can according to her own definition never gain the private title that they are seeking? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: No. People are free to spend their money to explore their rights but the Government is being very clear about the outcome it is seeking.