Attorney-General Chris Finlayson should come clean and call a spade a spade – if the Government envisions customary marine title over the foreshore and seabed to be equivalent to freehold title, then it should simply go ahead and call it freehold title, ACT Deputy Leader John Boscawen said today.

“In Parliament today I asked Mr Finlayson what sort of commercial benefits customary marine title-holders would be able to derive under the amended Clause 63 of the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill,” Mr Boscawen said.

“Mr Finlayson responded: ‘basically the same sorts of commercial benefits that those who hold a freehold title are able to enjoy’.

“This is yet another example of the devil being in the detail of this Bill. Rather than coming straight out and telling New Zealanders what this Bill will mean, the Government prefers to use legislative smoke and mirrors to confound the public.

“Chris Finlayson should have been honest from the start and told the nation that he intended customary title to carry the same commercial benefits as freehold title.,” Mr Boscawen said.

ENDS

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