Rotorua lawyer Annette Sykes says the Marine and Coastal Area Takutai Moana Bill should be referred to the Waitangi Tribunal for a ruling on whether it breaches the Treaty of Waitangi.
Ms Sykes says to be the replacement Maori want for the Foreshore and Seabed Act, the bill needs to be consistent with the treaty, the Bill of Rights and the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
She told Waatea News that Parliament has the power to ask the Waitangi Tribunal for its expert opinion on legislation before it.
Ms Sykes said the bill has a rushed feel and contains provisions which will be hard to put into effect.
