Nga Hapu o Ngāti Kahu
The Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) (Customary Marine Title) Amendment Act 2025
An application was lodged under the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011. The original applicants were the late Reverend Pereniki Tauhara, Trevor Wi Kaitaia, Atihana Johns, and the late Glen Larkin Kaiwaka, represented by legal counsel Afeaki Chambers. On 16 July 2025, Susan Peters was formally added as an applicant. On 18 February 2026, additional applicants—Tina Latimer, Leah Wright, Geneva Harrison, and Waha Tauhara—were included in the Ngā Hapū o Ngāti Kahu Takutai Moana application.
The Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) (Customary Marine Title) Amendment Act 2025 changes the original 2011 Act by
tightening the legal test for recognising Māori customary marine title (CMT). The Government introduced the amendment because it believed court decisions had lowered the threshold for proving customary title.
Key Changes
- Stricter test for Customary Marine Title (CMT)
The amendment clarifies and narrows the meaning of “exclusive use and occupation” and “substantial interruption”, making it harder to meet the legal test.
- Greater weight on physical evidence
Applicants must now provide stronger physical evidence of continuous use and occupation since 1840.
- Higher burden of proof on applicants
Section 106 is amended so applicants carry more responsibility to prove uninterrupted exclusive use from 1840 to the present.
- Clarified relationship between key sections of the Act
The amendment clarifies how the preamble, purpose, and Treaty sections interact with section 58, ensuring section 58 is applied more literally.
Overall Effect
- The Amendment Act
limits the ability of Māori groups to obtain customary marine title by raising evidential thresholds and tightening definitions. It responds to court interpretations that the Government believed had made the test too lenient.
Ngā Hapū o Ngāti Kahu Application Area
CIV-2017-485-000268
The application area of interest includes the southern boundary, which is located on the East Coast at Te Whatu (Berghan’s Point), with an imaginary line to the 200 nautical mile Economic Exclusion Zone. The northern boundary is an imaginary line through Rangaunu Harbour out to the 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone. All of the sea area between the northern and southern boundaries out to the 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone, including Moturoa Islands and other relevant incidental islands therein.
