September 09, 2013
Treaty part of Cunliffe DNA
Labour leadership hopeful David Cunliffe wants to see the Treaty of Waitangi embedded more deeply in New Zealand’s constitutional make-up.
Mr Cunliffe will join Shane Jones and Grant Robertson in Blackball tonight and Christchurch tomorrow for the final hustings meetings with party members.
The rest of the week will be spent answering questions for an online forum and trying to get the votes needed to become Opposition leader.
He told Pakiwaaha host Willie Jackson that the treaty was in his DNA as a New Zealander.
"My identity as a Pakeha is intimately tied up with Maoritanga with our treaty partnership, and my vision is that we will really learn to live that vision in years to come, that as we complete the last of the treaty settlements and we restore mana to mana whenua around the country, that that heralds a new age of partnership, a new beginning," he says.
Mr Cunliffe says Labour needs to win back the vote of Maori to say it has a true mandate to govern.
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