Hone’s comparison
September 17th, 2010 at 4:00 pm by David FarrarStuff reports:
Osama bin Laden would have more rights to own New Zealand’s coastland under new laws than Maori according to MP Hone Harawira.
The Marine and Coastal Area (Takitai Moana) Bill, which replaces the foreshore and seabed legislation, passed its first reading on Wednesday, and while four Maori Party MPs supported it, Harawira didn’t.
At a press conference at the marae at Auckland University today Harawira said: “If Osama Bin Laden was to come into the country – and that would be easy given the sort of people running our defence forces [a reference to the Stephen Wilce saga] – and buy a piece of the foreshore and seabed he would have more rights than Maori.
No he would not. He would have exactly the same rights as any other person (including Maori) who had purchased a parcel of land which includes a portion of the foreshore or seabed.
Hone is comparing the rights of Maori to the “common marine and coastal area” to the rights of owner or private land. Again – he misses the core difference – people have purchased private title (including many Maori).
What Hone has done is like comparing the rights of Maori over a local public playground to the rights of a private owner of a section, and he is complaining that you can do stuff on private land, which you can’t do on the playground. He misses the point again that there is a difference between land you pay for and purchase, and land you do not.
As it happens, if an Iwi does gain customary title to part of the foreshore, they can do pretty much anything on it a private owner (who has paid for the title) can do – except two things. They can’t sell it, and they can’t exclude people from it. Both things that Iwi have said they don’t want to do.
Related posts:
- Harawira on FSA
- Why Hone is a good activist but a lousy politician
- Iwi now argue against property rights
- HoS on Foreshore Act repeal
September 17th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
And what, one wonders, is the difference between Osama bin Laden and Hone Harawira?
You can negotiate with bin Laden.
Vote:September 17th, 2010 at 4:14 pm
Why do our media give this racist thug such a free ride?
If Garrett can be forced out of the house then the very least that our media could do is set their sights on Hone Harawira.
Vote:September 17th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
Good post David.
They can’t sell it, and they can’t exclude people from it
Those are big things! That, in essence, is property.
Vote:September 17th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
“Maori have to show that they held “exclusive use and occupation of the area since 1840 without substantial interruption etc.” This is fair, even Osama would agree, I mean, he is well educated at least and multilingual…..unless the four other Maori party MP’s have a better translation of the MCA than Hone….
Vote:September 17th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
Hone is a racist working for a racist party.
Vote:September 17th, 2010 at 4:38 pm
And under our lax foreign “investment” laws, no doubt a member of a billionaire clan of terrorists would be welcomed with open arms, provided he dazzled us with cash. After all, we were happy to bow before Tommy Suharto.
Vote:September 17th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Weren’t for Garret they would have been able to.
Vote:Oh and its till a possibility if the Nats. get stonewalled and have to change the words.
Can’t rely on whats left of ACT.
September 17th, 2010 at 5:09 pm
Harawiri is simply saying how it is and will be able to in 5, 10 or whatever years time say, when they get what they want, that he was right all along .. this matter is far from over .. Mutu has already said that she will vote for anything knowing she can change her mind whenever she feels like it. Their word is meaningless
Vote:September 17th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
Hone seems to forget (or does he)that the military is stuffed full of Maoris,but then he probably considers them sell outs.
Vote:September 17th, 2010 at 5:23 pm
Apparently Maoris can get tax payer funding for historical research when seeking customary title.
Vote:September 17th, 2010 at 5:31 pm
I don’t think Osama bin Laden will be coming to threaten the foreshore,
Vote:Bin Laden is dead, he had nephrotic syndrome ten years ago, and he went to see Allah, quite a while ago,
September 17th, 2010 at 11:21 pm
“As it happens, if an Iwi does gain customary title to part of the foreshore, they can do pretty much anything on it a private owner (who has paid for the title) can do – except two things. They can’t sell it, and they can’t exclude people from it.”
They certainly can exclude people from it.
All they have to do is declare a stretch of beach wahi tapu (sacred) for any reason they care to name under the deliberately mysterious criteria of tikanga (which only iwi can be trusted to decide).
This means that if a Maori at some point over the centuries died on that stretch of beach – and think how many must have done so in the various wars – that beach can be declared off limits.
And they certainly can charge the public.
The now-reviled David Garrett did a sterling job of proving, over numerous attempted smokescreens from Minister Finlayson, that, contrary to his various public statements after the emergence of the Coastal Coalition billboards, nowhere in his new bill did it say that public access would be FREE.
This saddens me as I previously had a high regard for Chris Finlayson.
Vote:September 18th, 2010 at 12:26 am
A good opportunity for ACT to come out say this is why they want Maori seats abolished.
Vote:September 18th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
Just playing devil’s advocate here…
What he’s saying is that the local Maori who used the foreshore area (and who didn’t sell it) already own those areas, since their territory predates crown sovereignty. He doesn’t see them as public domain or ‘common areas’, but as belonging to respective iwi by default. If he was here, he’d probably ask you why you felt that Maori needed to purchase the land (in order to satisfy the modern notion of ownership) when they had already inhabited or used it before the nation of NZ was created?
Vote:September 19th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
At least someone is standing up and representing maori interests over this issue rather than just bending over and receiving what the pakeha giveth!!
Vote: