WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Claims have been filed with the Maiori Land Court for five million hectares (12,355,269 acres) of coastal property in a long-running land dispute.
The new claims were detailed Sunday by the National Party as the New Zealand government grapples with a solution to the shoreline and seabed dispute, which has potential to alienate Maori tribes people and spark a backlash from non-tribal people.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Helen Clark told the Dominion Post: "The key thing is to get it into good shape. It is a complex issue and the most important thing is to get it right."
Maori tribes people have been making claims to shoreline in accordance with laws granting them such rights where they are the "customary owners."
