November 25, 2013
Green protests ignoring wider iwi picture
A National Party list MP says iwi should be wary of protesters imposing on their hospitality.
Iwi in Taranaki and Raglan are currently protesting against land and sea drilling for oil.
Claudette Hauiti says groups opposing the Government’s plans to open up more of the country for exploration like to involve tangata whenua, but they ignore potential benefits to Maori living in those areas.
"I know that in Te Kaha, when they were protesting in Te Whanau a Apanui, the green movement just swept into town and basically dropped in on iwi there and availed themselves to the hospitality and the manaakitanga without actually giving them any other option or any other choice about economic development in how to keep their people in Te Whanau a Apanui, and how to generate jobs," she says.
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