Sutton Jim: General Debates 
Sutton Jim: General Debates 
[Volume:610;Page:7654] 
Hon JIM SUTTON (Minister for Rural Affairs) 
: 
 The historian Tom Brooking has written a biography of John McKenzie one of my predecessors as MP for Waitaki and the Minister of Lands when the 1892 Land Act was passed—the legislation that put into effect the instruction by Queen Victoria on the public access strips originally given when New Zealand was still part of the colony of New South Wales. Mr Brooking gave his view that: “One of the great misfortunes of New Zealand is that it has been settled by two peoples who are romantic and even sentimental about land and imbue it with magical properties that push past logic into the realms of the supernatural and transcendental. This idealisation and mystification of land raised to quite unrealistic levels expectations concerning its productivity and ability to solve social problems. New Zealand is still wrestling with the consequences of those unfulfilled hopes.” 
That attitude towards land continues today but as our population creeps past the 4 million mark and the pressure on our environment grows it is becoming more difficult to access the outdoor recreation that many New Zealanders consider to be their birthright. The legal situation around the Queen’s Chain is often confusing public understanding of it is incomplete and access over such land is sometimes discouraged. People have the impression that the Queen’s Chain applies to all beaches and rivers but that is simply not true. In significant parts of Banks Peninsula and the Marlborough Sounds for example there is no right of access to the beaches in law. So “beaches for all” is a meaningless phrase. Even in 1892 when the Queen’s Chain was enacted it applied only to Crown land. It did not apply to private land land owned by Maori and land sold to European settlers prior to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. 
So in January this year the Government set up the Land Access Reference Group to look at that issue. Chaired by the former Meat Producers Board Chairman John Acland the reference group has reviewed access to the foreshore of lakes and the sea access along rivers access to public land across private land and access into private rural land in order to better facilitate public access to and enjoyment of New Zealand’s natural environment. The reference group has focused on whether there are sufficient certainty information mechanisms and awareness of expected conduct to ensure responsible public access to waterways and rural land while still providing for private land use both now and in the future. That group of 11 wise people drawn from throughout the country and from different walks of life but all with experience in different aspects of land access reported to me on Monday night. The report should be printed and made available for the public next week following consideration by Cabinet. It is an important report and I will need approval for money to take the matter further. 
When the reference group was set up in January it was pooh-poohed by many people. Some people said there was no problem with regard to access; I am quoting from the ACT member Gerrard Eckhoff. Recent times have proved that to be not true. Other members of the Opposition are tying themselves in knots demanding that the Government legislate to extinguish any Maori rights to beaches even while some of their fellow Opposition members demand that there be no disturbance whatever of any Pakeha property rights. 
During my parliamentary career since 1984 one thing I have noted is that too often people leap to entrenched positions on issues without sitting down and listening to what other people have to say. This group’s report is important but it is not the final word on the matter. Rather it is the first step in a long process. There will be consultation every step of the way.