June 09, 2014
Minister snubs NZMC on language strategy
New Zealand Maori Council co-chair Maanu Paul says if necessary the council will go back to the Privy Council to stop Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples plans to reshape the structures for protecting te reo Maori.
Dr Sharples wants to create an iwi-appointed super-body, Te Matawai, which will oversee the Maori language commission, Maori broadcast funding agency Te Mangai Paho and eventually Maori television.
The council met last week to discuss progress on its application to the Waitangi Tribunal for an urgent hearing on the plan.
Mr Paul says the current structures exist because of the claims the Maori Council and others pursued as far as the Privy Council in London, and they can’t be changed on a ministerial whim.
"Because at the moment he’s saying he will give it to some unknown iwi leaders. How they are to be elected we don’t know. They might be his cronies, his mates, we don’t know. There’s no budget allocated for it, and he is going to dismantle te Mangai Paho, the funding agency for Maori Television and 22 iwi stations, and he is going to get rid of the Maori Language Commission which is there to protect te reo," he says.
Mr Paul says the Maori Council has tried several times to consult with Dr Sharples, but the minister has cancelled each time.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH MAANU PAUL CLICK ON THE LINK
https://secure.zeald.com/uma/play_podcast?podlink=MTg5NTc=
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