Fitzsimons Jeanette: General Debates 
Fitzsimons Jeanette: General Debates 
[Volume:616;Page:12449] 
JEANETTE FITZSIMONS (Co-Leader—Green) 
: 
 This morning the Government’s foreshore and seabed legislation got caught between a rock and a hard place or rather between a “Peter” and a “Peters”. This is a dilemma entirely of the Government’s own making. This morning we witnessed an extraordinary farce of two parties threatening to withdraw support that they both previously promised for a large and complex bill they both supported on the basis of two little words: “public domain”. The silliest part of that is that those two words have absolutely no legal or practical significance whatever in the legislation. 
Hon member 
: Tell that to the United Future people. 
JEANETTE FITZSIMONS 
: That member should tell it to his own people. The Greens are strongly opposed to the direction that the Government has taken and therefore also to the legislation. But I have to say that my sympathies are with the Prime Minister as she tries to negotiate the numbers with the two Peters who are battling over the number of angels on the head of a pin. All this is a perfect diversion from the substantive issues that are raised by this legislation which are serious. This is not an occasion for political game-playing. This is about how New Zealanders live together in the 21st century. It is about a good-faith approach to the treaty relationship. It is about sustainable management of the coast and we are still a long way from achieving that in New Zealand. 
 The Government’s political problem is of its own making. It stems from a hasty panic reaction to the Court of Appeal decision and to the expected Pakeha backlash that has been whipped up by other politicians and I have to say particularly by Peter Dunne and Nick Smith who led the march in Nelson claiming that the rights of ordinary New Zealanders to go to the beach were being seriously threatened. That has never been true. No Maori leaders we have spoken to—and there have been many—want exclusive title or want to stop people enjoying the beach. All they want is their mana and their kaitiakitanga recognised. 
There was another option the Government had. We put an option forward at the beginning we have continued to put it forward and we are still prepared to work with the Government if it changes its mind and decides to go down that path. The Government has a set of four principles underlying this legislation. So do we and they are also four. The first principle is sustainable management of the foreshore and seabed for the benefit of future generations and of the coastal marine ecosystems. The second principle is that rights established in law by the courts whether by Maori or Pakeha should not be confiscated. The third principle is that there should be no more private and exclusive title over foreshore and seabed. The fourth principle is that public access must be protected except for very special areas where environmental protection or historical cultural or spiritual significance makes this inappropriate. All those principles could have been satisfied by a simple amendment to the Te Ture Whenua Maori Act to the effect that for foreshore and seabed land the title that the Maori Land Court could vest in hapu would be a collective title and would be a non-saleable title. 
Part of issuing that title would be a negotiation of a public access memorandum on the title to give confidence to the public to allow Maori to exercise their hospitality to the rest of New Zealand and to protect highly significant areas from disturbance. 
I do not often agree with Gerry Brownlee but this legislation will in his words lead to massive escalation of treaty claims. It is founded on confiscation both of whatever customary title the courts might have found remains and of the right to go to court to find out what title remains. My grandchildren and all of our grandchildren will inherit this albatross and will have to try to right the injustice. 
If we return to sustainable management of the coast surely the people who have lived there for many generations ought to be a part of ensuring that sustainable management. We see the Crown management now pouring sewage into coastal waterways and allowing four-wheel drives to run over dunes.