February 12, 2016
Hui fall short of treaty standard
The lead claimant challenging Te Ture Whenua Maori Bill says the crown should halt the current round of hui and move to a consultation on the lines recommended by the Waitangi Tribunal.
The hui which started in Auckland this week are to give information on changes to the draft bill, but submissions have not been reopened.
Marise Lant says that falls well short of the tribunal’s recommendations that further engagement is needed nationally with properly-informed Maori landowners, through a process of hui and written submissions.
"The tribunal has released the findings and recommendations but the crown continues to ignore those findings and recommendations by continuing the consultation process which was one of the areas that we highlighted to be flawed consultations for Maoridom. Unless we are engaged in a proper and fair process there can never be a reproof for Maoridom," she says.
Marise Lant says while the Maori Party is fronting the bill, the driver is National’s economic development policies.
There’s a hui this evening at the Quality Hotel in Gisborne and tomorrow at the Wairoa Community Centre and Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga in Hastings.
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