At least one MP reported ready to cross floor

3.00pm

At least one of Labour's 10 Maori MPs is threatening to cross the floor over the foreshore and seabed issue, it was reported today.

The Government will next week deliver its policy on how to recognise Maori customary rights without threatening public ownership of the foreshore and seabed.

The Dominion Post this morning said Labour's Maori MPs met Acting Prime Minister Michael Cullen and the prime minister's chief of staff Heather Simpson until almost 1am on Tuesday and that meetings continued yesterday and into last night.

Maori MPs were warned at Tuesday night's meeting that if they walked away from the bill it was "dead in the water".

The Government might then have to seek support from Opposition parties, which would result in legislation less favourable to Maori.

Cabinet's refusal to include commercial development as a customary right in the proposal was the biggest problem.

"It's a dynamic rather than a static situation," a Beehive source told the newspaper.

Another source said: "Semi bust-ups and major bust-ups are going on everywhere."

Opinion among the Maori MPs ranges from that of Associate Maori Affairs Minister John Tamihere, who is backing Dr Cullen, to fellow associate minister Tariana Turia, who believes Maori MPs could be more influential from the sidelines than from within the party.

Ms Turia has been the biggest protagonist on the issue and has previously warned of "huge conflict" if the Government tried to legislate away potential Maori customary ownership of the foreshore and seabed.

"It is clear that any attempt to extinguish customary ownership of the foreshore and seabed will create huge conflict for tangata whenua," she warned several months ago.

"Our people have expressed that their interests are always compromised in the so-called public interest."

Meanwhile, Dr Cullen will today meet Federated Farmers representatives to discuss their concerns on the foreshore and seabed issue.

Federation president Tom Lambie yesterday said he was in the dark over what the Government intended, especially what would happen to farmers who had private title to land below the high tide mark.

The matter could be quickly cleared up if the Government would meet federation representatives but it had failed to do so, despite giving special briefings to Maori groups.

Dr Cullen said he would meet federation representatives today after they approached him yesterday morning.

"My door has always been open. All they had to do was ask," Dr Cullen said.

"We have met with Maori because Maori are vitally interested in this issue.

"But we have also met with other interested parties, including the ports, local government, recreational, environmental and conservation groups."

But Maori caucus chairman Mita Ririnui played down any caucus rift, saying he was not aware of plans by any Maori MP to cross the floor. Instead, they were united and working with ministers on the issue.

But asked if he was confident the Maori caucus would support the proposals, Mr Ririnui told National Radio: "I'm not going to make that sort of commitment just yet but at the moment there are aspects of the proposal ... that we still need to do a lot more work on.

"To say we would be happy or unhappy would be premature at this point."

Mr Ririnui would not say if one of the aspects of the proposal that needed work was commercial development.

"There's a lot more work to be done before the announcement is made so it would be premature to make any such statement," he said.

Another one of Labour's Maori MPs, Nanaia Mahuta (Tainui), said she could not ignore the concerns of her constituents

"My electorate's concerns... (and) it's a conservative electorate, for them to come out and say that they are not supportive of the Government's proposals is something that I cannot ignore and we need to be really clear on what the key issues here are," Ms Mahuta said.

Her constituents would be upset if the Government extinguished customary rights and economic development rights that flowed on from them.

Asked if she would vote against the Government or could stay in Labour if the Government's final policy did not reflect those views, Ms Mahuta said it would leave her in a very difficult position.

"I would have to ensure that I can support the views of my electorate... I would not be in a position to pre-empt their reaction to the Government's policy when it is announced," Ms Mahuta replied.

"What I will see is that I would be very concerned if the views of Maori through the consultation round... have not been adequately respected in the Government's policy. It would leave me in a very difficult position."

The Government's position had been very fluid since the Court of Appeal ruled that ownership of the foreshore and seabed was unclear and there was potential for a customary claim over parts of it converting to private title.

"From that time on, all the discussions have been very fluid but the concerns from Maori have been absolutely consistent, that in order to address this matter there must be an absolute assurance that Maori can pursue and explore all their customary title rights and use in its totality."

Tainui were still meeting with the Government, she said.

Ms Mahuta indicated her preferred option was for the Government to allow a customary claim to go to court and see what happened.

Her least preferred option was for the Government to go to the opposition and legislate that land below the high tide mark was all owned by the Crown.

- NZPA