Coastal Coalition facts for kids

The Coastal Coalition is a political group in New Zealand. They are interested in who owns and controls the country's coastlines and sea areas.

This group was formed to speak out against a proposed law. This law was called the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill of 2010. The Coastal Coalition was worried that this new law might change who controls New Zealand's beaches and sea.

What the Coastal Coalition Does

The Coastal Coalition believes that New Zealand's coastlines and sea should stay under the ownership of the Crown. In New Zealand, "the Crown" usually means the government or the public. They were concerned that the new law might give local Māori communities more control over these areas.

To share their views, the group ran many advertisements. These ads aimed to explain their reasons for opposing the new law.

Disagreements and Debates

The ideas of the Coastal Coalition led to some strong discussions. Chris Finlayson, who was a government minister in New Zealand, spoke about the group. He was in charge of introducing the new law.

Finlayson said that some of the arguments made by the Coastal Coalition were not true. The Coastal Coalition, in turn, felt that Finlayson was not open to discussing the law fairly. They believed he should have been more willing to listen to different opinions.