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Labour's new leader says the Crown is only now learning how to stick with the deal it made when it signed the Treaty of Waitangi.
Andrew Little says he's looking forward to reading the Waitangi Tribunal report on stage one of Te Paparahi o Te Raki claims, which found that northern rangatira did not consider they were signing away their authority when they signed the treaty in 1840.
Prime Minister John Key and the Treaty Negotiations Minister have said the report changes nothing and the crown still has sovereignty.
But Mr Little told Radio Waatea host Willie Jackson he's keen to consider the implications for New Zealand's constitutional arrangments.
" It is about recognising that Maori are a people. They have got their own interests and rights and that they are also citizens under the government that is formed, with their consent. Whether you characterize that as partnership, or how you characterize it, I don't have the form of language for it. But there is a deal there, and a deal is a deal and you have to stick with it. And we are learning only now, 170 years or so on, to learn how to stick with the deal he says.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH ANDREW LITTLE CLICK ON THE LINK
https://secure.zeald.com/uma/play_podcast?podlink=MjQzNTA=
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