Five Million Voices

Should the test for recognising customary marine title be amended to restore stricter requirements and override recent court interpretations?

The bill amends the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 to redefine the requirements for recognising customary marine title (CMT) and to set aside certain court judgments' interpretations of the test. The changes apply to applications still undecided as at 25 July 2024.

⚡ Taken under urgency

Parliament advanced this bill under urgency (first reading) — moving it through faster than usual, with less time than normal for public submissions.

MPs’ arguments for and against the bill

Why support it
  • Supporters argued the 2011 Act intended an exacting test for customary marine title, and that recent court interpretations diluted the exclusivity and continuity requirements away from Parliament's original intent.
  • Supporters said the test needs to remain balanced against the significant rights that come with title, including involvement in resource consents and ownership of non-Crown minerals, given the marine area is used by all New Zealanders.
  • Supporters argued the changes were urgent because many applications are in progress and could be decided under what they considered an incorrect interpretation if Parliament waited for the courts.
Why oppose it
  • Opponents argued the bill removes the ability of applicants to have their customary title tested through the courts simply because the Government disagreed with a court decision.
  • Opponents said there was inadequate consultation and a truncated process with Māori, the group most affected, and pointed to a Waitangi Tribunal finding that proceeding would breach the Treaty and harm the Crown-Māori relationship.
  • Opponents argued the changes amount to a confiscation of customary rights that opens the coastal area to exploitation and deepens division through misinformation.

These are claims MPs made in Parliament’s debate — not verified facts.

Full bill summary & link to official bill page

This Bill amends the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011, the law that sets out how Māori customary interests in the foreshore and seabed (the "takutai moana") are recognised. Its focus is the test for "customary marine title" (CMT) - the strongest form of recognition, which gives an iwi or hapū rights such as a say over certain activities and resource consents in a defined coastal area, though not outright ownership or the ability to stop public access. The Bill tightens the criteria in sections 58 and 59, requiring applicants to show they have held and exclusively used the area continuously from 1840 to the present without substantial interruption. This restores a stricter reading of the threshold and reverses a 2023 Court of Appeal decision (the Re Edwards case) that had made it easier to establish title, affecting coastal iwi, hapū and other marine users.

The change stems from the National-New Zealand First coalition agreement, which committed to amending the 2011 Act so the test reflected what its authors say Parliament originally intended. Supporters argue the courts had drifted from that intent, that a clearer, higher bar restores certainty for everyone with an interest in the coast - including fishers and other users - and that Parliament, not judges, should set the standard. Opponents, including many iwi, legal commentators and the Waitangi Tribunal, argue the Bill breaches Treaty principles of active protection and good faith, was advanced without adequate consultation with Māori, and unfairly raises the burden of proof so high that few groups could ever meet it, undermining rights the 2011 Act was meant to recognise.

See the Parliament.nz ↗ site for the full bill.

Oppose (No) Support (Yes)

Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) (Customary Marine Title) Amendment Bill · Third Reading, 21 Oct 2025
Parliament voted 68–54 — it passed.