Hon Christopher Finlayson

DAVID GARRETT (ACT) to the Attorney-General: Will he commit to prohibiting Māori owners from charging other New Zealanders for access to beaches; if not, will he at least limit the amount they can charge to $5, the fee currently charged by the Māori owners of Tākou Bay in Northland?

Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Attorney-General) : Access will be free for those areas of public foreshore and seabed where public access is guaranteed. The example the member uses is one of property owners whose land adjoins a beach and who are charging a fee for access over their private property. This Government believes in property rights and we will not be legislating away private property rights whether for high country farmers, Waihī residents who live near the beaches, or the landowners of Tākou Bay.

David Garrett: Leaving aside charges for crossing adjoining land, can the Minister explain what the owners of customary title of foreshore and seabed will be able to charge for and what they will not be able to charge for?

Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: Any iwi or group that has customary title may, for example, be able to charge if someone wants to have a development on their area of customary title. That will be a question that will be worked out between the customary titleholder and the applicant for the particular development.

David Garrett: Does the Attorney-General believe that it should be part of the rights of customary title to foreshore and seabed to be able to charge for access to it?

Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: The member has to understand that there is a distinction between the owner of coastal property and the owner of customary title. I would have thought that that member comes from a party that strongly believes in property rights. If someone wants to have access to the foreshore and seabed over private property, there may well be an instance where that person has to be charged for it.

Hon Rodney Hide: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. We appreciate the statement about property rights, but the question was specifically whether the owners of customary title in the foreshore and seabed, as proposed by the Government’s policy, would be able to charge for access—would they have that right? That question was never addressed.

Mr SPEAKER: What I will do is invite David Garrett to repeat his question to make it clear. One of the reasons I am inviting the member to repeat his question is he did not need to have a lecture about what he should understand in the answer. I invite the member to repeat his question.

David Garrett: Does the Attorney-General believe that it should be part of the rights of customary title over foreshore and seabed to be able to charge for access to it?

Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: Of course, my beliefs are irrelevant; it is what is Government policy. Government policy is that access to the foreshore and seabed, where those areas are in the public domain, will be free.