Māori leaders urge New Zealand’s Governor General to block changes to the Marine and Coastal Area Act, calling them a threat to ancestral rights and a modern-day land grab.

Māori leaders, including Tākuta Ferris and Rueben Taipari, are urging New Zealand’s Governor General to withhold Royal Assent on proposed changes to the Marine and Coastal Area Act, arguing the legislation undermines Māori customary rights to the foreshore and seabed. They claim the government’s revisions weaken longstanding claims under Te Tiriti o Waitangi, calling the bill a modern-day confiscation. Over 19,000 signatures were collected in protest, with opposition parties and the National Iwi Chairs Forum condemning the move as harmful to Māori sovereignty and democratic accountability. The Forum asserts Māori retain inherent rights over their rohe moana and reject Crown attempts to regulate or limit those rights.