Resource and Marine Management Issues in the 2004 New Zealand Foreshore and Seabed Legislation

In 2004, New Zealand enacted the Foreshore and Seabed Act in order to provide a regime for Maori to claim and exercise customary rights in relation to the foreshore and seabed. The legislation was drafted and enacted extremely quickly for such a significant piece of legislation. This paper arose out of a presentation in December 2004 to a conference that was called in order to consider various issues arising out the legislation. A key element of the foreshore and seabed regime is the interface between the new provisions and the existing resource management regime in the coastal marine area. This paper focuses on that interface. It explains the then existing resource management regime and how it provided for Maori interests. It examines the resource management origins of the original dispute which led to the legislative package: namely the tussle over marine farming permits and reform of the permitting regime. It then describes the evolution of the resource management provisions in the foreshore and seabed legislation. Finally, it comments on selected aspects of those provisions, primarily from the perspective of environmental protection, but also in terms of the Treaty partnership in resource management decision-making