Dear friends, 

Would you please consider forwarding this message to the contacts in your address book since it contains crucial public interest information that everyone should be aware of?

A group of concerned New Zealanders are gathering signatures for a Citizens Initiated Referendum to restore Crown ownership of the foreshore and seabed and I am hoping you will support their efforts.

Last year a law was passed by Parliament that changed the ownership of the entire New Zealand coastline. Until then, each and every one of us jointly owned the foreshore and seabed - as had our forefathers, as part of our Kiwi birthright and common heritage. Under the new law, no-one now owns it, but soon iwi will be able to start claiming private title. They will not have to prove their claim in the High Court, but will be awarded title to the coast through secret deals with government ministers.

Most New Zealanders are not aware that the law was changed because the government rushed it through Parliament while most people’s attention was on the Christchurch earthquake disasters and the Pike River Mine tragedy. They were in such a hurry to pass the law (before the wider public woke up to what was going on!) that they didn’t even allow the Select Committee to obtain the independent legal advice about the Bill that it was seeking, nor make any of the changes suggested in the submissions. 

Almost everyone who studied the Bill was opposed to it – Maori and non-Maori alike. But since the government was determined to pass it - against the wishes of the public - a group of concerned citizens decided to take a stand and run a Citizens Initiated Referendum to repeal the new law and restore ownership of the coast back to the public.

The referendum was launched last year, by Dr Muriel Newman a former MP who now runs the New Zealand Centre for Political Research and Dr Hugh Barr the secretary for the Council of Outdoor Recreation Associations of New Zealand. However, because of the Rugby World Cup, the election, and Christmas, it has not received much publicity. We are therefore hoping that you can help bring the referendum to the attention of your contacts - so that all citizens will get the chance to have their say about who should own New Zealand’s coastline.

Citizens initiated referenda are real grassroots democracy in action and New Zealand is one of only four countries that allow them (the others are Switzerland, the US and Italy).  However, to succeed in forcing a referendum the support of 10 percent of registered voters must be gained. That means that by the end of June 320,000 signatures need to have been collected in support of the petition which states: “Should the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 be replaced by legislation that restores Crown ownership of the foreshore and seabed?”

If this referendum is to succeed, New Zealanders up and down the county need to get behind it and provide support. If you can help by firstly getting your family and friends to sign the petition form, and secondly by sending this message on to your contacts, then we would all be doing our democratic duty to reverse a law that should never have been changed in the first place!

The CIR petition form can be downloaded here>>>, and full information about the referendum can be found on this website: www.CoastalCoalition.co.nz – including the contact details for Geoff Parker, the CIR coordinator
(ph: 09 426 7874 or email: cma3nz@inbox.com) who can be called on for help.

I feel really strongly about this and I hope you will too – by signing the petition and sending this message on to all of your contacts.

Kindest regards,