Far North mayor claims faults in new Coastal and Marine legislation...

Mayor says beach access a problem in Far North - faults in new Coastal and Marine legislation...





Far North mayor Wayne Brown says he has no confidence the Coastal and Marine Area Act will protect public access to beaches.

Two Maori iwi have formally expressed interest in seeking customary title under new seabed and foreshore legislation enacted in March this year.

The Marine and Coastal Area Act allows the tribes to seek title to areas where they can prove uninterrupted and exclusive occupation since 1840.

The iwi are Kaitaia-based Te Rarawa in the Far North and Ngati Pahauwera on the East Coast.

Te Rarawa has confirmed it will seek customary title to Te Oneroa a Tohe, or Ninety Mile Beach.

Mr Brown says he has already been ordered off beaches in the region by angry young Maori men and chose to leave rather than risk a fight.

On two occasions, Mr Brown says he has come into a beach from his boat with his wife and been confronted while walking below the high-tide mark.

A spokesperson for Te Rarawa, Haami Piripi, says encounters such as Mr Brown's stem from resentment and uncertainty.

Mr Piripi says tangata whenua (people of the land) are uncertain of their rights and aggrieved at the lack of recognition for them.

Acknowledgements:  © 2011, Radio New Zealand

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Watch out for Chinese takeover of NZ warns Winston Peters...

Watch out for Chinese takeover of NZ warns Winston Peters...
Winston Peters claims another Chinese bidder is trying to buy the Crafar dairy farms which he says the Government is trying to keep under wraps until after the election.

A Chinese takeover is being predicted by New Zealand First leader Winston Peters with a warning that if our energy companies are partially sold power prices will go through the roof.

Mr Peters has told a Grey Power meeting they had better start buying more clothes and blankets because they won't be able to afford the rising prices if the Chinese or the Australians move to buy the power stations.

He also warns that Chinese are hungrily eying our dairy farms, saying it's our main source of wealth and should remain in New Zealand hands. He says they're also a major source of protein in a world running out of food and China is one of the only countries with any money.

Mr Peters claims another Chinese bidder is trying to buy the Crafar dairy farms which he claims the Government is trying to keep under wraps until after the election.

He believes the sale will be rubber stamped by the Overseas Investment Commission but says his party will block the sales at every turn by mobilising a people's army to stop what he says is economic lunacy.

Mr Peters has also launched an attack on three National Party leaders accusing them of selling our country.

The New Zealand First leader says Jenny Shipley is the head salesperson for selling New Zealand to the Chinese. Mr Peters says Wrightsons, the main supplier to the agriculture industry, is now controlled by China thanks to her.

He says Don Brash is going to help John Key stay on track with asset sales and a full privatisation campaign.

Mr Peters says he also wants to cut the pension and raise the eligibility age using John Key as the smiley front person.

He's accused Mr Key of telling the biggest porkie in the history of New Zealand politics by saying 170,000 new jobs will be created when his Budget was all about getting rid of jobs.

Acknowledgements: - Newstalk ZB/ MSN  News

NZ is to change the give way road rule - to bring it into line internationally...

Motoring

Give way change will improve road safety

The AA says changes to the proposed give way rule will improve road safety and will also help tourists on our roads.

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Currently if you're turning left, you have to give way to right turning traffic coming towards you, but this would reverse if the new rules come into force. Public consultation is underway on the proposed changes.

The AA's General Manager of Motoring Affairs Mike Noon says New Zealand is the only country in the world which gives way to the right.

"Quite a portion of intersection accidents are relating to giving way to the right," he told Newstalk ZB. "Make that rule simpler, as this change will do, and it will improve road safety."

He says changes may be needed to the way some intersections are controlled.

"Possibly now we have extra space for holding traffic that wishes to turn left which may not be required for instance, and we may have the requirement to increase the holding areas for traffic turning right."

Mr Noon says the signal timings of controlled intersections will also need to be looked at, with some possibly needing turning arrows. He believes having a rule which is the same as the rest of the world, will also help tourists on our roads.

KR says: It was a previous National Government who changed it in any case. It is a purely political motive that has motivated this change. Though in this case it will be supported.

Acknowledgements: Anna Cross NZ City News