A prominent Maori lawyer says the Government's proposal that no one can or should own the foreshore or seabed is totally unacceptable and slightly deceitful.
Attorney-General Chris Finlayson is half way through a nationwide series of hui, seeking feedback on plans to review the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004.
The Government is negotiating with Maori leaders about what might replace the contentious act which focuses on the ownership and administration of New Zealand's foreshore and seabed.
Under the Government's proposal, the current law would be repealed, bringing to an end Crown ownership. Instead the foreshore and seabed would become public domain land, administered by a combination of the Crown, local authorities and iwi.
Maori interests could be established either by direct negotiations with the Crown or through the courts.
Lawyer Moana Jackson presented a submission to Mr Finlayson on behalf of Ngati Kahungunu iwi at a meeting in Napier on Thursday, saying the Government's proposal is flawed and discriminatory.
Mr Jackson says the Crown's notion that it can create a no-ownership regime is a legal fiction and a nonsense in terms of Maori tikanga (customs and traditions).
He says Maori cannot be tangata whenua unless they have whenua - or land - to belong to.
