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September 30, 2013
Council battles for Maori self-government
Waatea Team
Posted On September 30, 2013
New Zealand Maori Council co-chair Sir Taihakurei Durie says the Government had no right to determine the fate of the council or of the Maori wardens.
The council has asked the Waitangi Tribunal for an urgent hearing on its claim challenging the current process to rewrite the Maori Community Development Act.
Sir Taihakurei says under the Treaty of Waitangi, government does not decide how Maori organise themselves, nor does it lead the discussion.
He says the council and the wardens have a whakapapa to the Kingitanga, 100 years before the 1961 Act.
"To establish his own council system, the king established runanga, that’s the council, he established watene, that’s the wardens, and he established karere, and karere means the messengers, and I think those were the people who were supposed to spread the message about what was happening, so it’s a very old institution and we can’t just say it’s convenient to put them under the police or put them under government control as thought there was no history behind them," Sir Taihakurei says.
This month’s consultation hui run by Te Puni Kokiri have revealed a high level of support for the New Zealand Maori Council, and for the council to continue to have oversight of the wardens.
Copyright © 2013, UMA Broadcasting Ltd
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