Rights left unchanged, alterations overridden

Press, 5 April 1989, Page 3

Rights left unchanged, alterations overridden

The definition of “Maori fishing rights” has been left to the Waitangi Tribunal by the Crown submission on Maori fisheries claims. The interim arrangement contained in the submission reopens Maori claims to the’tribunal and intends that they should go ahead. As part of the interim arrangement, existing Maori fishing rights are left unchanged and where the Maori Fisheries Bill altered them it has been overridden. The intention of the interim arrangement is to facilitate the entry of Maori into fishing and provide for Maori control of non-commercial fisheries for four years. The bill had set up management

committees to control local non-commer-cial fisheries. There had been no provision in the bill for discrimination in control of such areas but in the legislation itself control by local Maori iwi or hapu had not been made clear. The Crown submission urged that the bill be amended to make this clear. The interim arrangement had to have two features. — • It should neither advance nor retard the parties’ positions of principle. • It should benefit all the parties. It was clearly understood by the parties that the form of interim arrangement was not to be taken as an alteration of the legal contentions to be raised in proceedings by Maori, the submission said.