Nobody owns the foreshore and seabed and nobody ever will, the Government says.
All New Zealanders must be able to use and enjoy coastal areas, it said as it released proposals to put all land below the high-tide mark into the public domain so no-one could hold a private exclusive title.
Under those proposals, public access would be assured by placing the areas in Crown control to be regulated "on behalf of all present and future generations of New Zealanders."
Prime Minister Helen Clark said the difference between that and Crown ownership was that the Government would "not ever" be able to sell it.
"The best way to protect the foreshore and seabed from alienation in the future is to ensure that no-one has fee simple title," she said.
Maori customary right would be acknowledged and specific rights identified and protected, the Government said.
Maori, who maintain that customary title flows from such rights, said they were the biggest losers in the announcement.
Labour Maori MPs must now spend six weeks selling a deal to constituents who do not wish to buy it.
"It is clear that any attempt to extinguish customary ownership of the foreshore and seabed will create huge conflict for tangata whenua," the Maori caucus said in a statement.
"Our people have expressed that their interests are always compromised in the so-called public interest."
Political reaction was negative.
United Future was lukewarm about the proposals, while all other parties gave them a frosty reception.
The proposals were a reaction to an Appeal Court ruling that Te Tau Ihu - a group of eight South Island iwi - may have a case for claiming customary title to the foreshore and seabed.
That prospect was yesterday crushed when the Government said no such new private titles could be created "as a result of an investigation of Maori customary interests, or other processes."
If the Maori Land Court found a group of Maori had a customary interest tantamount to title, "the Government would ... move to discuss the situation directly with those holding the customary interest."
It was important not to overstate the likelihood of that happening, Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen told reporters.
The Government also has two options for dealing with areas of foreshore now in private ownership ... Legislation would be introduced as soon as practicable, the Government said.