John Key

By Maggie Tait of NZPA

Wellington, June 9 NZPA - Prime Minister John Key thinks his Government has a better than 50-50 chance of getting agreement on a replacement for the foreshore and seabed legislation.

Mr Key has repeatedly said that if the Maori Party did not agree with the Government's choice of public domain the 2004 legislation, enacted by Labour, which places the foreshore and seabed in Crown ownership would be retained.

The Government's preferred option was to repeal the law and instead of Crown ownership put the areas into public domain, which no one owns, while reasserting the right of Maori to seek customary rights but not freehold title through the courts.

Iwi Leaders Group chairman Mark Solomon said at the weekend that public domain was an unacceptable outcome. He questioned why private titles would not be included in the public domain when iwi were forgoing their rights.

"We refuse to forgo all of our rights and put our rights to the foreshore under the public domain, as long as there are still 12,500 titles sitting there, private titles to the foreshore," he told Question and Answer on TV One.

However since then others in the group have indicated that the public domain argument had some merits and would be better than the status quo, so it is possible they would support it.

In the end it will be up to the Maori Party to decide. Its leadership is not commenting while negotiations continue. The party formed over discontent about the original legislation and review of the Act was a key plank of the party's support arrangement with the National Government.

Mr Key today said it was his understanding that some within the Iwi Leaders Group supported the Government proposal. They met the Government over a week ago.

"There was reasonable consensus and I actually thought progress was being made. That doesn't mean they have agreement of their own people. They had their own hui last Friday but fundamentally we were making progress," he said.

Mr Key said the issue of private titles had not been raised as an issue with the Government.

"That's never been on the cards, it wasn't on the table in 2004 and it is not on the table in 2010."

He understood the group would prefer the land not be covered by either public domain or Crown ownership.

"Of course there would be a preferred option from the Iwi Leaders Group but we've been quite clear about our view of having public domain as being the only option that's been acceptable to the Government."

Mr Key said there was always a wide range of views within Maoridom but the review was held because of the Maori Party and there would be no point pushing through legislation without its support, Mr Key said. But he was hopeful that progress could be made.

"I wouldn't want to say it's a slam dunk, but I think its better than 50-50. We've really addressed the fundamental concerns that Maori had in 2004 which was basically what they saw as Crown confiscation so the Crown had sole title; and their inability to access justice through the court system. And both of those are there.

"I actually think if this proposal had been put on the table back in 2003 and translated into law in 2004 we would never have the problems that we have today. So I accept that times move on and sometimes people's expectations change, but we need to go back to what was driving this and that was access to justice and the whole issue of Crown confiscation and we've dealt with those two issues."