The Government can’t sell the foreshore and seabed (the wet part of the beach and the sea) and have never been able to do so.

Under common law it was owned by the Crown in the public interest.

Now, under Finlayson’s law (Marine and Coastal Area Act 2011) it is owned by no-one (‘Public Space’). Under this Act, tribal Customary Title holders (akin to full ownership) cannot sell the F&S – but they can lease it to foreigners for up to 99 years (as good as selling it).

Some groups have the right to use an area in the public interest, like Ports and Marinas - but they don’t ‘own’ it.

Any riparian rights apply only to the dry land (some include tidal area) and not only are they all historical, but they are also being removed over time.

If any such properties are subdivided or changed through resource consents in any way, the riparian rights are cancelled as a condition of the consent.

So the amount of area (out to the low tide mark) owned privately (including by Maori) is tiny and is reducing.

What this means is that people claiming or inferring that the Government did/will sell the coast is complete and utter rubbish - Lies made up to justify Maori control/’ownership’.

Further, according to some tribal claim applications, they want to be able to ‘take’ dolphins and whales, penguins and seals, mine the area for minerals and extract sand – in other words they don’t want to protect the coast they want to exploit it… it’s all about greed, money and power!