June 29, 2017
Maori council seat bill fails
Parliament has voted down Marama Davidson's Bill to enable better Maori representation in local government.
The Bill would have removed the anomaly that decisions by councils to create Maori seats can be overturned by referendum, whereas they can't be challenged if they create general wards.
The Green Party Maori development spokesperson says she was disappointed National, NZ First and Act have voted against her Bill.
She says the fight must go on, as the discriminatory provision in electoral law sets a double standard preventing Maori representation in local government throughout the country.
Former New Plymouth mayor Andrew Judd says the ignorance of National MPs in the debate shows they don’t understand their own policies and commitments under both the Treaty of Waitangi and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which the Government signed in 2009.
Submissions on Mr Judd's petition before Parliament close in December.
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