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Maori Party co-leader Marama Fox says it's time to throw out laws that hold Maori to different standards than non-Maori.
Ms Fox spoke in parliament yesterday in support of New Plymouth mayor Andrew Judd.
Mr Judd has announced he won't stand again because of the racist backlash to his attempt to create a Maori ward on the New Plymouth District Council.
Ms Fox says the racism started with the Local Government Act provision that took the decision out of the council's hands.
"It only takes 5 percent petition to force a referendum to overturn the decision of council, now you can only do that for Maori representation. It's similar to the law for Maori seats. Any seat in parliament can be done away with with a vote of parliament but for any General seat you need 75 percent of the vote but for a Maori seat you only need 50 percent of the vote. It's time that we overturned those racist laws," she says.
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