“The National Iwi Chairs Forum reaffirms the position that hapū and iwi retain full authority over their rohe moana, and that the Crown has no authority to define, regulate or determine the customary rights of Māori in relation to the takutai moana. The Forum demands that the Crown cease all attempts to legislate over Māori territories, and instead acknowledge and uphold the tino rangatiratanga of Māori as guaranteed under He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi,” said Iwi Chairs spokesperson Aperahama Edwards.

“The Forum further affirms that Māori do not seek validation from, nor will we defer to, the Crown or the New Zealand Government’s moral compass or legislative processes to recognise our rights. Our tino rangatiratanga is inherent, our rights remain, and we assert them unequivocally. We will not recognise any assertion of authority by the Crown that seeks to override or diminish these rights.”

“We warn the government that we will ignore any limits they put on our rights to our takutai moana and will carry out a deliberate programme of disruption to demonstrate our resistance to the government’s criminal behaviour. Our priority is to protect our tikanga, whenua and whānau for future generations,” said Professor Margaret Mutu

“Over the years, governments have stolen or illegally acquired over 95% of our land. We are long past the time for governments to stop stealing what is rightfully ours,” she concluded.

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