Waitangi Tribunal report into Marine and Coastal Act confirms iwi concerns

Ngātiwai Trust Board Treaty Claims Committee chairman Aperahama Edwards said the Waitangi Tribunal's report into the Marine and Coastal Area Act was "favourable". Photo / Michael Cunningham

Northland iwi Ngātiwai say the Waitangi Tribunal's report into the Marine and Coastal Area Act has confirmed concerns it had around expensive processes, conflict of interest, and overlapping claims.

This week the Waitangi Tribunal released the findings of its stage one inquiry into whether the procedural and resourcing arrangements supporting the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 breached the Treaty and prejudiced Māori.

The act was introduced in 2011 to replace the controversial Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004.

The act allows iwi to negotiate a settlement directly with the Government, or go to court to test the extent of customary title and rights – something the Foreshore and Seabed Act did not allow - while providing for public access.

Ngātiwai, along with other iwi and hapū around the country, brought claims to the tribunal which saw hearings held in Wellington in March and August last year.

In its report, the tribunal found the claimants had been, and remain, prejudiced by "aspects of a procedural and resourcing regime that falls well short of Treaty compliance".

The tribunal listed many Crown failures including not implementing adequate policies to ensure the High Court pathway and the Crown engagement pathway operate cohesively; failing to manage real or perceived conflicts of interest in the administration of funding; and failing to actively and practically support efforts to resolve overlapping interests in the marine and coastal area.

Ngātiwai Trust Board Treaty Claims Committee chairman Aperahama Edwards said the report was "favourable".

"[It] clearly confirms our argument from the hearings that we are being trapped in an expensive High Court process with costs that are beyond our control," he said.

Claimant Mylie George - who told the tribunal the two pathway process would waste money and time, and damage whanaungatanga - said Ngātiwai ki Whangaruru
applicants were heartened by the tribunal's findings.

"It acknowledges and reflects our true experience as whānau and hapū of Te Uri o Hikihiki, Ngāti Te Rahingahinga, Ngāti Te Awa and Ngāti Rehua ki Tuparehuia.

"We maintain and uphold the mana of our whenua and moana as we continue to fight
and refuse to be subject to the winds and power of the coloniser."

The Ngātiwai Trust Board submitted to the tribunal that because they are not sufficiently resourced to respond to all the 166 resource consent applications they had received to date; construction of private jetties, moorings and structures, discharge consents and a sea of other marine and coastal area related resource consent applications are being processed without Ngātiwai input.

"This process has the potential to change the face of the Ngātiwai Takutai Moana forever, and we will not stand by and allow this to happen," said Edwards.

Treaty of Waitangi negotiations Minister Andrew Little said the Crown accepts the tribunal's findings, and that the process under the Takutaimoana Act is not adequate and can be harmful.

"Last year I commissioned a review into the process and how it could be improved. It was due to be consulted with iwi and hapū in March this year, however Covid-19 disrupted this consultation. We are looking to pick this up again now. I am keen to see as revision of the rules and procedures."