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September 13, 2017
Republic talk raises questions of crown contract
Waatea Team
Posted On September 13, 2017
Manurewa MP Louisa Wall says a debate over republicanism is a chance to celebrate the role of Maori as as New Zealand's indigenous people.
Labour leader Jacinda Ardern says she supports the country becoming a republic, which has sparked charges that would be an attack on the relationship Maori have witht he crown through the Treaty of Waitangi.
Ms Wall says it is an opportunity to look beyond colonial history, but Maori need to be in front of any discussion.
"For a lot of our whanau, the Treaty of Waitangi is incredibly important and it does set a context for a series of relationships with the crown that can't be ignored so if you were to erode that contract we have, what does that mean in terms of our positioning in Aotearoa New Zealand," she says.
Ms Wall says even above the Treaty of Waitangi, Maori have status as the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand, but there is no acknowledgement of that anywhere in the law.
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