February 10, 2015
Sovereignty expressed in settlements
Manurewa MP Louisa Wall says Labour leader Andrew Little's call for a discussion on Maori sovereigty shows why he is a leader for the future.
Prime Minister John Key has dismissed Mr Little's comments at Waitangi as advocating separatism.
Mr Little said for iwi to make their own laws would be problematic.
But there are some things iwi could do that are consistent with Waitangi Tribunal findings that Maori were guaranteed a level of self governance.
Ms Wall says that's the path Mr Key's own Government has gone down in the treaty settlements which include statutory recognition of governance or kaitiaki responsibility over particular taonga.
"If you look at the Tuhoe settlement for example in the Urewera and the co-management frameworks that have been put in place, over time we will see Tuhoe be the majority partner in that relationship with the crown. So I see that as a form of sovereignty actually, even though the prime minister doesn't seem to know that's included in part of treaty legislation currently," she says.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH LOUISA WALL CLICK ON THE LINK
https://secure.zeald.com/uma/play_podcast?podlink=MjYyMDE=
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