4 May, 2004

Green MPs To Greet Hikoi At Parliament

Green Party MPs will greet the hikoi against the Government's foreshore and seabed legislation at Parliament tomorrow [Wednesday], after walking in the last stage of the journey through Wellington.

A number of Green MPs, including Co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons and Maori spokesperson, Metiria Turei have already participated in the hikoi, along with a group of Green supporters from around the country.

Tomorrow, Green MPs - including Jeanette Fitzsimons, Metiria Turei, Sue Bradford and Keith Locke - will join the hikoi at Chaffers Park at about 10am and take part in most of the walk through the city before Green MPs as a group greet the hikoi when it reaches Parliament at about midday.

The Greens are the only parliamentary party to share the hikoi's opposition to the Government's foreshore and seabed legislation.

"The Greens have consistently opposed this legislation," said Ms Fitzsimons. "It amounts to a confiscation of Maori legal rights to go to court that not only breaches the Treaty but offers no guarantee that our coasts will be environmentally protected and not flogged off to the highest bidder under some future government."

The Green position is that public access to the foreshore can be guaranteed in perpetuity, within a framework that recognises Maori customary title and Kaitiakitanga, which will also protect the environment. This can be achieved with simple changes to the Te Ture Whenua Maori Act.

ENDS

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