April 15, 2016
People can sing now land bill introduced
An advisor to the Iwi Leaders Group says getting Te Ture Whenua Maori Bill into parliament means Maori landowners can see for themselves what’s in it.
Maori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell tabled the bill yesterday afternoon just hours after lawyers for the crown told the Waitangi Tribunal they did not know when it would be introduced.
He brushed of the tribunal’s concern that there had been no empirical research into whether a complete rewrite of Maori land law was justified.
Willie Te Aho says while the Waitangi Tribunal has raised legitimate concerns, iwi leaders have also been trying to shape the bill through consultation and dialogue.
"From a Iwi Leadership Group perspective we support this bill being introduced and its first reading so it can be taken out to our people because there has been a lot of speculation about what's in the bill and what's not. Well get it introduced, take it out to the people and they can sing," he says.
Mr Te Aho, whose law lecturer wife Linda Te Aho is on the minister’s expert advisory panel on the bill, says Mr Flavell has assured Maori that the bulk of issues raised by the tribunal have been addressed, and the rest can be picked up by the select committee.
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