Bill seeks to restore Parliament’s original test for customary rights

The government will press on with legislation that tightens the rules on Māori claims to customary rights over marine and coastal areas, saying a Supreme Court ruling on the issue “doesn’t go far enough”.

Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) (MACA) Amendment Bill was drafted after the Court of Appeal backed a High Court ruling that relaxed the requirement in s 58 of the MACA Act that to gain customary rights, an applicant must have exclusively used and occupied the area “from