Another week, another constitutional and legal outrage from the government. Not to mention another Treaty breach. 

The latest this week was news from Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith that the government will proceed with its proposed amendment to the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011. The move has been widely condemned, including by one of the key architects behind the 2011 legislation, former Attorney-General and Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson. 

Rejecting Goldsmith’s argument that the government was merely restoring the original intent of Parliament, Finlayson declared in unequivocal terms that ‘These amendments do not restore the original intention of Parliament. They undermine them. Let there be no doubt about that at all.’ He went further, describing the move as ‘stupid and foolish’. In an interview with Morning Report, Finlayson said that he was ‘dumbfounded’ by the government’s decision to press ahead with the amendment. 

Other senior government figures at the time of the 2011 legislation have also been highly critical of the move. Peter Dunne said a Supreme Court decision last year clarifying the test for customary marine title was definitive and he was at a loss as to why the government chose to reopen the matter. Tau Henare described the decision as ‘a play for the dumb red neck vote’.