The Green Party says the passing of the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) (Customary Marine Title) Amendment Bill robs Māori of customary rights to the Takutai Moana.

“This Government is selling out Māori with a Bill that prioritises profit over taonga and is another form of raupatu,” says the Green Party’s spokesperson for Māori-Crown relations Steve Abel.

“The Government has a duty to ensure customary rights are upheld. Instead they are diminishing Māori rights, sidelining the voices of iwi and hapū, and taking Māori-Crown relations to an all-time low.

“The Government is more concerned with giving away seabed rights to Aussie miners and bottom trawlers than with recognising the customary rights of indigenous New Zealanders.”

“Ensuring hapū and iwi rights to their takutai moana has never meant excluding others from enjoying the marine coastal environment which is protected by law.

“Despite the Waitangi Tribunal warning that this Bill breaches the principles of tino rangatiratanga, as well as active protections and good governance, the Government has still forced it through.

“By consulting fishing interests instead of whānau, hapū and iwi, the Government has revealed that it’s more concerned with commercial exploitation than the first property rights of this country - Māori Customary rights.

“What’s good for Māori is good for our country. Aotearoa deserves a Government that will work alongside Māori, not undermine and attack them at every turn,” says Steve Abel.

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