‘TV3 reports that the Minister of Maori Affairs, who has just returned from a visit to China with a Maori trade delegation, is hopeful that the China Development Bank will work with Maori on future business projects. With the Marine and Coastal Area Act specifically encouraging tribal owners to “develop” the foreshore and seabed to “derive commercial benefit”, it is likely that such joint ventures may focus on coastal development such as mining for iron sands, rare earths, and other minerals, as well as aquaculture…
Exploration and development in NZ is put through an unbelievable amount of bureaucratic red tape. I’m willing to bet any project between maori and Chinese will be fast-tracked, and I’m also willing to bet that Kiwis are going to see “Chinese only” coastal resorts springing up all around the coasts in areas that are lost to most non-maoris.