Coastal claims

To hang on to power, the National Party handed their Maori Party partners a “bone” called the Marine and Coastal Area Act. It allows granting of customary title to areas of coastal sea. In such areas the title holders will be able exercise powers that non- Maori do not have, including exclusion of access to specified areas for fishing or other recreation and power to veto every development.

There are hundreds of applications about to be considered by the High Court, covering all of New Zealand’s territorial waters. Wake up, it is not too late to get rid of this highly discriminatory act. One party, NZ First, is absolutely opposed to it. As ex- Aucklanders now living in Tauranga we have been effectively disenfranchised from using our Gold Cards for free non peak- hour transport unless we go “through the hoops” process of applying for and funding a Hop Card — which will then be frozen if we do not tag on for a couple of months. I am sure there will be many others who may visit Auckland caught in this situation.

When we visited Wellington to visit the displays remembering World War I we were able to use our cards on the train with no trouble at all. How can an Auckland entity over- ride a Government provided system for the use of our Super Gold cards? It was delightful to see the Auckland ladies running out in their traditional blue and white striped jerseys. Then the men followed in a uniform that was a disgrace to our proud past of blue and white stripes. A blue “splodge” at the top of the jersey, probably designed by the twit who wants to change “Auckland — City of Sails!”