21 August 2024 The real coastline issue: Stop confiscating Māori property rights

In an article published by Newsroom, LU's Professor Paul Dalziel argues the Government should ignore current calls to convert customary property rights into public ownership.

Indeed, private property rights are the foundation for any free society. To safeguard enterprise and prosperity, our Government must be staunch in protecting the property rights of all persons, all families, all community groups and all businesses.

On August 7, the New Zealand Herald published on its front page an advertisement placed by Hobson’s Choice. The advertisement made an appeal to “restore the foreshore and seabed to public ownership”.

Te Hunga Rōia Māori (the Māori Law Society) and 350 lawyers have explained five ways in which the advertisement is misleading and divisive.

A further point needs to be made. The proposal is bad economics.

The proposal targets what are called ‘customary marine titles’, which exist at different places along the foreshore. As Hobson’s Pledge explains on its website, customary titles are a property right much like ownership. Their appeal urges the Government to take these rights from private ownership into public ownership.

This is where economics becomes relevant.

To read the full opinion piece by Professor Dalziel, visit the Newsroom website here >>>