Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

General Synod / Te Hinota Whanui voted unanimously to support Maori right to due process in their claims to the foreshore and seabed. General Synod considered that the legislation proposed by the Government violates Maori rights guaranteed under the Treaty and denies Maoris the opportunity to have their claims heard in the Maori Land Court as recognised by the Appeal Court.

Contrary to the Government's position, General Synod / Te Hinota Whanui considered that the Treaty of Waitangi guarantees tino rangatiratanga (sovereignty) of Maori over their taonga (valued possessions) for as long as they desire this to be the case.

"(This) motion seems like an initiative from Tikanga Maori, but it is also from the Commission, and the Commission is a Three Tikanga body," said the Rt Revd John Bluck, Bishop of Waiapu, during debate on the issue. "I want to speak as a Pakeha member of the Commission & there may be Pakeha here who are able to go back to England or Europe, but I want to speak as a Pakeha who has nowhere else to go, I belong here& I claim my place here as a Gospel person and a Treaty person.

"If due process is not followed for all the peoples of this land, then all the peoples of this land are in trouble. Give a thought to what it might be like to when the betrayal of due process comes to Pakeha."

Bishop John Bluck also presented recorded comment from the Revd Dr David Williams, associate professor of law at the University of Auckland.

"Due process is an ancient understanding in English common law going back to statutes in the twelfth century," said Dr Williams.

The foreshore-seabed debate began with a case between "the Crown and Ngati Apa. The Crown won in the High Court, but lost subsequently in the Appeal Court. The Crown then decided to legislate to change the due process in their favour."

Dr Williams noted that while the legislation left non-Maori private ownership of the foreshore and seabed intact, it completely removed Maori right to the same form of ownership, making it "effectively a form of racial discrimination.

"People are caught up in the issue of public access (to the foreshore) and not in the fundamental underlying issue of due process."

To support Maori right to due process, Synod agreed to help prepare submissions on the foreshore and seabed legislation to the relevant Parliamentary Select Committee through its Treaty/Tiriti, Church, and Nation Commission.

The Rt Rev Kito Pikaahu, Bishop of Te Taitokerau, suggested that the Church should look further then simply preparing submissions to the relevant Parliamentary select committee, but should also consider wider international forums, like the Forum of Pacific Nations and the United Nations.