95bFM The need for Māori voices in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Protection Bill
9 October, 2025
Interview by Jasmine Grey, adapted by Soeun Kim
The University of Waikato’s Fiona McCormack explains how the expansion of the Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill excludes Māori governance in preserving the Gulf’s biodiversity. Image: Hauraki Gulf (2006) - Wikipedia Commons
The Hauraki Gulf Marine Protection Bill has recently passed its third reading, expanding the restrictions from the original Bill.
The amendments, which will extend two existing marine reserves and create five seafloor protection areas (SPAs), have been celebrated by many.
With the rise of commercial fishing, mining, urban developments and other industries, the Hauraki Gulf has ecologically collapsed, with the surrounding urban development in the Gulf resulting in a 57% decrease in key fish stocks, a 67% decrease in seabirds, and a 97% decrease in whales and dolphins.
Despite this, this bill is not without its concerns, such as how much power Māori have in the bill.
Fiona McCormack, the Associate Professor in Anthropology from the University of Waikato, told 95bFM’s Green World that the fundamental changes of the bill prioritise corporate interests over other key areas of importance.
“Why do these private interests take precedence over recreational fishing, the public, and mana whenua? Why has it been allowed? Why do we allow private interests to take over 15 years of work and negotiations that have occurred over the Hauraki Gulf?
“Does this mean that the next time we have a marine protected area, it will be about a negotiation of rights, rather than a discussion of the ecosystem benefits and the value of recovery?”
McCormack argues that permitting commercial extraction within areas labelled as marine protected areas undermines the bill's main purpose.
“It now opens up two of these high protection areas to commercial fishing.That is at least five ring net fishers, which is a kind of offshoot per sign fishing.
She adds that the bill “removes at least seven references of whānau and hapu”.
She believes this movement is directly linked to the current political state of New Zealand, expressing her concern about Indigenous rights on environmental authority.
McCormack highlights the importance of involving Indigenous peoples and local communities in managing marine area protection, despite political and economic pressures.
“The ocean is the new frontier of industrial expansion.
“I suppose the key for any local fishing or local marine area is to involve from the start Indigenous peoples in the design of it, in the protection of it and in the management of it, as well as local people who know the ocean best.”
