August 02, 2016
Peters claims credit for foreshore law
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has accused the Maori Party of headline hunting over former prime minister Helen Clark’s bid to become the next secretary general of the United Nations.
The Maori Party says it can’t support the bid because of the Foreshore and Seabed Act, her government’s refusal to sign the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the 1987 raid on Ruatoki by armed police looking for terrorism suspects.
Mr Peters says the foreshore and seabed legislation came from New Zealand First after consultation with coastal iwi.
He says the Maori Party went quiet on the issue because of that support, but after the 2008 election got National to agree to what he calls race based policies..
Mr Peters says as foreign minister between 2005 and 2008 he advised cabinet against signing the declaration because of its implications for New Zealand’s sovereignty.
He says Maori around the country and especially in the north support Helen Clark’s campaign to be secretary general.
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