18 Feb 2011

Hikoi against coastal bill to start at Cape Reinga

10:13 pm on 18 February 2011

A hikoi against the Marine and Coastal Area Bill is due to start next week.

The Maori Affairs Select Committee reported back to Parliament two weeks early on the Bill, and recommended it be passed unchanged.

It would enable iwi and hapu to gain customary title through direct negotiation with the Crown.

The Green Party says the proposal is essentially the same as the previous Foreshore and Seabed Bill and fundamentally undermines Maori rights.

The hikoi will start next Thursday in Cape Reinga and will be led by Wikitana Popata, one of the people who heckled Prime Minister John Key as he arrived at Te Tii Marae during Waitangi Day celebrations last month.

It will end in Wellington.