East Cape. Photo / Brett Mead
The ownership of New Zealand's coastline and the issue of customary title are shaping up as major political issues as the Government prepares to repeal the Foreshore and Seabed Act.
This week, we investigate coastal ownership and examine the implications of scrapping this contentious law. Land Information New Zealand has exclusively released detailed maps and statistics to the Herald about coastal ownership.
Today, in the fourth of a five-part series, we examine the areas of the Eastern Bay of Plenty and East Cape.
Tribes opposed to oil drilling say provisions of their pending foreshore and seabed deals could come into force if multinational Petrobras strikes paydirt.
The Government awarded the $300 billion Brazilian company a five-year prospecting permit off East Cape in June leading to a dust-up between iwi leaders and Energy and
Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee about the level and quality of consultation.
Iwi from Ngati Porou and Te Whanau a Apanaui say any drilling could pose huge environmental risks.
Both tribes have deals. Ngati Porou has a signed deed, but agreed to a Government request to wait until the foreshore repeal process was finished before it was formalised.
Their Eastern Bay of Plenty neighbours, Te Whanau a Apanaui, have a broad agreement but are yet to finish negotiations.
Provisions of the deals, which could apply if Petrobras finds oil within its 12,330sq km area of interest in the Raukumara Basin, include:
* An environmental covenant which sets out an iwi's expectation about management of resources in statutory plans covering the foreshore and seabed - which is the wet area of the sand out to the 12-nautical mile limit.
Its intent would be taken into account during the Resource Management Act process, Te Runanga o Ngati Porou's Matanuku Mahuika said.
* A relationship "instrument" which sets out how iwi will engage with government ministers including the Energy and Resources Minister.
* A permission right for an iwi to veto development on its lands.
Mr Mahuika said the extent to which the provisions "kick in" depends on where resources are found. The Raukumara Basin comes within 4km of the coast at its northern end.
"Our deed goes out to 12 nautical miles. A lot of the exploration is occurring much further out than that so in theory they'd apply but it will depend on where they are proposing to carry out the drilling and extraction.
If drilling occurred further out, the environmental covenant wouldn't apply, Mr Mahuika said, "but that doesn't mean we wouldn't have an expectation of better dialogue than has occurred in the current situation".
The permission right would apply if Petrobras wanted to build any kind of structure on the foreshore and seabed where iwi held customary title, a limited form of ownership.
"The reason we have these agreements is because we own the vast majority of land in that area. So if anyone wanted to do an activity along the coast it'd be difficult to do it without talking to us."
A lawyer for Te Runanga o Te Whanau, Dayle Takitimu, said the tribe had hoped the Government would have recognised it had a "treaty obligation" to involve Maori earlier in the prospecting process.
A spokesman for Mr Brownlee said the minister agreed the three provisions could apply.
