By any measure, MACCA is an abomination

17 October 2024

Ngāti Ruanui is demanding the Government’s Justice Committee immediately halt and throw out the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) (Customary Marine Title) Amendment Bill.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Ruanui Trust kaiw’aka’aere Rachel Arnott said it would appear Minister Goldsmith has ignored advice from Te Arawhiti.

“By any measure, this Bill is an abomination and embarrassment to all who are associated with it.

“Cherry-picking anecdotal evidence to reimagine the original intent is a far cry from the evidence-based approach to policy the Government once touted.

“Ngāti Ruanui was not consulted on the policy that underlies the Bill.

“This is an afront to the commitment the Crown made to Ngāti Ruanui as part of our settlement to atone for [past] wrongs, and to begin the process of healing.

“The failure to consult with us, and others, who have spent months and years preparing for hearings that are imperilled by the content and timing the Bill is particularly dishonourable.”

The Bill would override the original purpose of the Act. That purpose, and the Act as it stands, already fall below the standards of compliance with the principles of Te Tiriti, as the Waitangi Tribunal found in its 2023 Stage Two Report on Wai 2660.

Arnott said, “The truth is simply that this Government has an ideological and political commitment to gut the Act and to denying the customary and Tiriti-guaranteed rights of iwi, hapū and whānau.

“The Waitangi Tribunal didn’t mince its words when it called the Bill a ‘gross breach of the Treaty’ and an ‘illegitimate exercise of kāwanatanga’.

“Our rights are not just being eroded but are being effectively removed by this government once again.”

Ngāti Ruanui Taiao Officer Graham Young said the Bill does not only fail by the standards of Te Tiriti.

“It also undermines fundamental constitutional principles including the separation of powers between the executive, legislation and Court and the presumption against retrospective legislation.

“The effect of the amendments will be to deprive applicants of their property rights without compensation.”

Ngāti Ruanui seeks urgent consultation with the Crown on changes to our rights and interests within the Coastal Marine Area.