February 10, 2016
Pause call for land law reforms
A lawyer with extensive treaty and Maori land experience says the rewrite of Maori land law needs to pause to allow proper consultation and consideration.
Barney Tupara from Tamaki Legal attended an information hui in Auckland yesterday on Te Ture Whenua Maori Bill, which the Maori Development Minister wants to introduce to parliament next month.
He says the hui endorsed criticism by the Waitangi Tribunal that the consultation around the bill wasn’t up to treaty standard and that it did not have the support the government is claiming.
Mr Tupara says the hui was called at short notice on a working day, and people weren’t given the material in advance that could have prepared them for an informed discussion.
He says it creates an atmosphere of distrust.
"There are suspicions that the crown are pretty much wanting to turn whatever land we still hold into some sort of economic opportunity and that kind of thing. When you have suspicions like that they need to be allayed and the way to allay that is for the crown to basically lay it all out in front of the people prior to these hui so that our people are better informed," says Barney Tupara.
A protest is expected at this evening’s hui in Rotorua, and resistance is expected elsewhere round the country as the official roadshow continues.
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