Tawheta Hautapu (Ngāti Raukawa) writes about the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 as a pathway for Māori to have their customary rights to their marine and coastal areas recognised under New Zealand law and the challenge of choosing how to react to Crown proposals to limit that recognition.

Pōnga rā! Pōnga rā!

Ka tātākī mai Te Whare o Ngā Ture! 

Ka whiria te Māori, ka whiria!

Ngau nei ana reiti, ngau nei ana tāke! Ā ha ha! 

Tē taea te ueue, hī auē, hī!^[1]

I whakaturea te Ture Takutai Moana i te tau 2011 (te MACA).^[2] He mea tuhi tēnei e ngā kaitōrangapū o taua wā hei whakatikatika i te ture Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004, te ture nāna te whakatau i te kēhi Ngāti Apa v Attorney-General [2003] NZCA 117 i turaki. Ahakoa ngā ngoikoretanga o te MACA, kei reira tētehi huarahi hei whai mā te Māori e whakaturea ai ōna take takutai moana (customary rights to the marine and coastal area) i raro i te ture Pākehā.

E rua ngā ōta matua e wātea ana ki te Māori mā roto mai i te MACA; ko te customary marine title (CMT) ka tahi, ko ngā protected customary rights (PCRs) ka rua. Ka āhei te tukua o ngā tono ā-whānau, ā-hapū, ā-iwi rānei.^[3] Me pēnei pea te whakaaro; ko te CMT he momo take ki te takutai moana whānui (territorial right), ā, ko te PCR he momo take whakamahi (usage right). 

Ka whakawhiwhia te CMT ki te kaitono e whakaatu ana i te nui o tana take takutai moana kei runga ake i ō tangata kē. Ko te kaipupuru CMT ka tū hei tumu whakahaere mō ētehi kaupapa i tōna takutai moana i raro i te ture Pākehā^[4] (kei roto i te ture te roanga ake).^[5] Heoi, kia mōhio mai tātou, ehara te CMT i te mana o te moana i runga i ngā tikanga Māori - kāore. Kei te kaipupuru CMT ētehi āheinga i raro i te ture (pēnei i te whakahē, i te whakaae rānei ki ngā whakaaetanga rawa taiao [resource consents]),^[6] engari e wātea tonu ana te moana ki te ao katoa, ki te hī ika, ki te aha atu rānei.^[7] He whiwhinga moroiti noa iho. 

He iti kē iho te PCR. Ko tā te PCR he whakature i te take whakamahi a tētehi rōpū i te takutai moana (e.g. ki te kohikohi rawa moana, ki te tuku waka, etc.) ahakoa ko wai te kaipupuru CMT i taua takiwā.^[8]

E whiwhi ai te kaitono i te CMT i raro i te MACA, e rua ngā here, ngā mea me mātua tutuki. Me whakaatu atu (ki mua i te aroaro o te Hai Kōti, o te Kāwana rānei): 1) e pupuru ana a ia ki tōna takutai moana i runga i ngā tikanga Māori; ā, 2) kua whakamahi, kua noho ko ia anake ki tōna takutai moana mai i te tau 1840 ā mohoa noa nei - kāore anō te here kia motu.^[9] Nā, he nenekara te whai ā-kupu i te ture. Nā konā ka whakamārama pēnei te Kōti Pīra i te kēhi o Whakatōhea (Edwards) [2023] NZCA 504 i te mea tuarua me tutuki; arā me whakaatu atu te kaitono i a ia te mana whakahaere i mua i te tau 1840, ā, i taea ai e ia te ārai atu i tangata kē - kāore anō taua here kia motu i runga i ngā tikanga Māori.^[10]

Nō nā tata nei ka puta te whāinga a te Kāwana kia turakina anō ngā whakatau kōti. Ki tā te Kāwana, kua hē te whakamārama a te Kōti Pīra i ngā here o te ture. E whanga tonu nei tātou ki tēnei whakahounga, heoi ko tōna hiahia kia uaua ake te whai CMT a te Māori.^[11] Ka mutu, kei te hiahia hoki te Kāwana ki te unu, ki te whakatepe i te puna pūtea mō ngā kaitono.^[12]

Taku aroha ki ngā tai e ngunguru, e rā. E rite mai ki te iwi e ngunguru noa nei, e rā.^[13]

Nāwai, nāwai ka haruru. Heoi ko te pātai ia, me tono rānei te Māori ki te Kāwana e tau ai tōna mana ki ana taonga? Kua puta i a Te Aupōuri te whakatau e kore rātou e whai i te MACA, kaua mā te Kāwana tōna mana e whakatau.^[14] Kua puta hoki te kōrero i te heamana o Ngāti Wai ki ngā minita Kāwana, “Unuhia mai e koe ō ringa, e te Karauna, i te takutai moana o Ngāti Wai. Kore rawa mātou e whakaae.”^[15]

Ko te mānuka e takoto nei ko te whakatau i te ara tika hei whai mā tātou. Mā te kuhu atu ki ēnei tukanga tōrōkiri ka aha? E whakaae ana rānei tātou mā te Kāwana te mana Māori e whakatau? Ki te kore, ka aha kē tātou? Kei wareware; kāore te mana o te moana ā-tikanga Māori nei e ahu mai i te CMT.

Kua whai wāhi atu ahau ki ētehi whakahaeretanga kōti mō te MACA i nā tata nei. Ki tāku, kei wareware tātou ngā rōia, ahakoa tā tātou tū hei māngai mō te Māori ki ngā ture Pākehā o Aotearoa, ka hoki ā tātou kiritaki ki te wā kāinga, ko ngā hua o ēnei mahi kōti te pīkaunga. Me mārama kehokeho tātou ki tēnei āhuatanga i a tātou e tautoko ana i ā tātou kiritaki i ngā ngaru kai waka o te wā. Kei te kite hoki ahau i te mōrearea o te Māori e whiri atu nei ki ēnei tukanga a te pūnaha Kāwana e whakaturea ai tō tātou mana i te ture Pākehā. Kei huri tupehau te Māori ki te patipati atu ki ngā kōti (ki te Kāwana hoki) kia whakatauria ā tātou kaupapa e tika kē ana mā tātou anō e whakatau.

I ōna wā, ka tukituki te Māori ki a ia anō, ka wareware te ito. Ko tā te tukanga Kāwana he toutou i te ahi. Nō te taenga mai o te Karauna ki ēnei tuaone, he rite tonu tāna rāwekeweke i ngā tikanga Māori, me tāna whakatau, “Kei konei ō whenua, anei ngā taiapa, anei ō mana.” Engari, me pēhea tātou e whakarangatira ai, e whakamana ai i a tātou anō? Ākene pea me kōkiri tahi atu tātou ki ngā mahi MACA, ā, waiho noa iho ko tā te Kāwana he haina i te pepa. Me waiho rānei ēnei tukanga, he parapara noa iho hoki āna kai.

Kei tēnā, kei tēnā iwi, tēnā hapū, tēnā whānau hoki te whakatau. Heoi anō tā mātou, tā ngā rōia Māori, he tautoko i a rātou. Ka waiho nei ko tēnei kōrero a tōku tupuna, a Parakaia Te Pouepa o Ngāti Raukawa, hei whakakapi:

E kore te tuna pai e kai i te hāware waha o tētehi atu tuna. 

Ko te ika hoki, e kore e kai i te māunu toenga a tētehi ika.

E kore hoki mātou e tango i te moni toenga a tangata piri noa, whenua kore. 

Ka heke ngā tuna ki te moana, he kōrero tupuna ki te whenua. 

Ko te ture a te Kāwana, he hīnaki.

Shadows fall! Shadows fall!

There is chattering in Parliament!

Māori are plaited like rope!

Its rates and taxes gnaw!

Its teeth cannot be removed!^[16]

In 2011, the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act was enacted (the MACA).^[17] This was enacted by the Government of the time to rectify the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004 which overturned the Ngāti Apa v Attorney General [2003] NZCA 117 decision. Despite the flaws of the MACA, therein lies a pathway for Māori to have their customary rights to their marine and coastal areas recognised under New Zealand law.

There are two primary orders Māori can receive under the MACA; customary marine title (CMT) and protected customary rights (PCRs). Māori can make an application as a whānau, as a hapū, or as an iwi.^[18] It is helpful to conceptualise CMT as a kind of territorial right, whereas a PCR is more like a usage right.

CMT is for an applicant group that can show that it has customary territorial authority over the marine and coastal area relative to the rights of others. The CMT holder is recognised as the primary customary authority for some matters relating to its marine and coastal area to the extent the law allows^[19] (the range of rights attached to CMT are outlined in the legislation).^[20] However, it is important to understand that a CMT order does not equate to mana over the moana in accordance with tikanga Māori. A CMT holder has limited rights under legislation (e.g. determining resource consent applications),^[21] of which do not include the right to exclude the public from accessing the sea, from fishing, or other legal activities.^[22] It is a mere fraction of mana over the moana in accordance with tikanga Māori. 

A PCR is an even lesser form of right. A PCR grants a usage right to a group in the marine and coastal area (e.g. to collect resources, to launch waka, etc.) regardless of who holds CMT in that area.^[23]

The test for CMT under the MACA is that an applicant group must prove (either before the High Court or the Crown in direct negotiations) that it: 1) holds its application area in accordance with tikanga Māori; and 2) has exclusively used and occupied the said area since 1840 until today - without substantial interruption.^[24] With what we know about our country’s history, it would be illogical and largely impossible for any group to be able to meet this test (and therefore make the MACA nonsensical). On this basis, the Court of Appeal in Whakatōhea (Edwards) [2023] NZCA 504 interpreted the second prong of the test to be that an applicant group must prove that before 1840 it had sufficient control over its application area to exclude others, and that control has not since been lost as a matter of tikanga Māori.^[25]

Recently the Government announced its intention to, again, overturn decisions of the courts in this space. It has indicated that the interpretation of the Court of Appeal has substantially lowered the intended strict threshold test of the legislation. Whilst we are still to find out the exact wording, the clear intention is to make it more difficult for Māori to be granted CMT.^[26] Furthermore, the Government is also retracting and significantly limiting how it funds the MACA applications.^[27]

My heart yearns like the rumbling of the tide, like the rumbling of my people.^[28]

The Government’s proposal has been met by strong reaction. But this begs the question, should Māori be making applications to the Crown to determine our authority over our taonga? Te Aupōuri have announced that they will not participate in the MACA process, for the Crown cannot determine their mana.^[29] The chair of the Ngāti Wai Trust Board said recently to Crown ministers, “You have no authority to determine the extent of our mana tuku iho over our taonga, the moana. We will never accept you exercising an authority that you do not have.”^[30]

The challenge that now lays before us as Māori is determining how we react and what the way forward is from here. What does Māori participation in deeply flawed Crown processes such as this mean? Is it implicitly agreeing that the Crown can determine mana Māori? If we do not, what are the implications and what are our other options? It is important to remember: CMT does not bestow mana over the moana in accordance with tikanga Māori.

I have been a part of some of the recent MACA cases. I think that as lawyers we should not forget that while we may stand as advocates for Māori in the New Zealand legal system, when legal proceedings conclude, our clients return home and are left to deal with the outcomes of these processes. This understanding is vital in how we help our clients navigate the often deeply contested issues before them. Another observation I have is that it is easy to get tied up and absorbed in the Court process and the systems created by the Crown to recognise rights and interests. This means that the Courts (and the Crown) are being asked to settle and make decisions about what should, in some instances, more appropriately be addressed as intra- and inter-tribal matters.

It is not uncommon for MACA applicants to clash with one another and the fighting to turn inward. Crown processes can exacerbate this. Since the Crown arrived here, it has meddled with our way of life and imposed systems upon Māori, saying, “Here is your land, here are the boundaries, and this is the extent of your mana.” So, how do we honour and empower each other? One way to approach the MACA could be for Māori to unite and face it together, leaving the Government to simply (all things being equal) ratify our unified position. Alternatively, we could choose not to participate given the limited recognition it offers in any event.

Every iwi, hapū, and whānau will have their own way of making the decisions that are right for them, as is their right. Our responsibility as both Māori and as lawyers is to do what we can to support them in this. I leave you with a statement from my ancestor Parakaia Te Pouepa of Ngāti Raukawa:

A good eel does not eat the spit of another eel. 

Likewise, a fish will not eat the bait left by another fish. 

We will not take the money left by people who are mere occupants, who have no rights to the land. 

As eels migrate to the sea, our ancestors remain on the land. 

The law of the Government is a trap.

Ngā kupu āpiti - Notes

Reo Māori - Māori

[1] He wāhanga nō te haka ‘Te Kiri Ngutu’ nā Matutaera Nihoniho o Ngāti Porou (1850-1914).

[2] Takutai Moana Act 2011.

[3] Wāhanga 9.

[4] Wāhanga 60.

[5] Wāhanga 62.

[6] Wāhanga 62.

[7] Hāunga ko ngā wāhi tapu, heoi, he uaua kē noa atu te whakature i ērā (tirohia te Takutai Moana Act 2011, s 78).

[8] Wāhanga 52.

[9] Wāhanga 58.

[10] Whakatōhea Kotahitanga Waka (Edwards) v Te Kāhui and Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board [2023] NZCA 504, [2023] 3 NZLR 252 i te kōwae [434].

[11] Hon Paul Goldsmith “Test for Customary Marine Title being restored” (25 Hūrae 2024) the Beehive <beehive.govt.nz>.

[12] Te Arawhiti | The Office for Māori-Crown Relations “Te Kāhui Takutai Moana: Funding information for applicants” <tearawhiti.govt.nz>.

[13] He wāhanga nō te mōteatea ‘Tirotiro Kau Au’ nā tōku tupuna a Kararaina Anaru o Ngāti Raukawa (1852-1930).

[14] Te Aupōuri “Press Release: Te Rūnanga Nui o Te Aupōuri Decision to Stop Giving Mana to MACA” (29 Hūrae 2024) <facebook.com>.

[15] He kōrero ā-waha nā Aperahama Edwards i te hui National Iwi Chairs Forum ki ngā minita Kāwana, 2 Ākuhata 2024.

Reo Pākehā - English

[16] Translated part from the haka ‘Te Kiri Ngutu’ composed by Matutaera Nihoniho of Ngāti Porou (1850-1914).

[17] Takutai Moana Act 2011.

[18] Section 9.

[19] Section 60.

[20] Section 62.

[21] Section 66(2).

[22] Other than wāhi tapu, which are even more difficult to have recognised (see the Takutai Moana Act, s 78).

[23] Section 52.

[24] Section 58.

[25] Whakatōhea Kotahitanga Waka (Edwards) v Te Kāhui and Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board [2023] NZCA 504, [2023] 3 NZLR 252 at [434].

[26] Hon Paul Goldsmith “Test for Customary Marine Title being restored” (25 July 2024) the Beehive <beehive.govt.nz>.

[27] Te Arawhiti | The Office for Māori-Crown Relations “Te Kāhui Takutai Moana: Funding information for applicants” <tearawhiti.govt.nz>.

[28] Translated part from the lament ‘Tirotiro Kau Au’ composed by my ancestor Kararaina Anaru of Ngāti Raukawa (1852-1930).

[29] Te Aupōuri “Press Release: Te Rūnanga Nui o Te Aupōuri Decision to Stop Giving Mana to MACA” (29 July 2024) <facebook.com>.

[30] Aperahama Edwards at a meeting of the National Iwi Chairs Forum with Government ministers, 2 August 2024.

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