The Waitangi Tribunal has released an Urgent Report on the Government’s proposed amendments to the Takutai Moana Act 2011.

The report calls out Paul Goldsmith’s proposal for what it is: a “gross breach of the Treaty” and an “illegitimate exercise of kāwanatanga”.

The Tribunal is recommending the Crown step down in its efforts to amend the Takutai Moana Act and make a genuine effort to engage with Māori before it causes irreparable damage.

“The largest confiscation of Māori land in history happened in 2004 with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This was the genesis of our Party,” said Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi.

“This Government is hellbent on taking us back 20 years and entrenching the theft of our moana and coastlines. They better be prepared for what comes next because te iwi Māori will not stand for a repeat of the Foreshore and Seabed Act,” Waititi said.

“The Tribunal has confirmed what we already knew to be true: this Government is intent on reducing Māori rights to almost nothing,” said co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.

“Tangata whenua rights are the last barrier to this Government’s agenda to pillage, extract, and sell off Aotearoa to the highest bidder,” Ngarewa-Packer said.

“The Takutai Moana Act as it currently stands only gives Māori the ability to have very limited rights recognised. Customary Marine Title doesn’t come close to the ownership promised by Te Tiriti o Waitangi,” said Waititi.

“It makes me wonder what the motivation is behind this. Why has Cabinet given Paul Goldsmith free rein to act unlawfully, and in flagrant breach of the Treaty, to extinguish basic, limited rights?” Ngarewa-Packer said.

The Waitangi Tribunal concludes:

The Crown is “…doggedly continuing a path which is in clear Treaty breach and which repeats the approach of the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004.”

“Te takutai moana is a significant taonga, and changes to its legislative regime require the Crown to demonstrate the highest standard of consultation, which it failed to meet at every step of the policy development process, despite the advice from officials.”

They recommend:

• The Crown halt its current efforts to amend the Takutai Moana Act;
• The Crown make a genuine attempt at meaningful engagement with Māori; and
• The focus of this engagement should be on the perceived issues of permissions for resource consents, rather than interrupting the process of awarding customary marine titles.

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