June 27, 2018
Constitutional change call in report to UN
PROFESSOR MARGARET MUTU INTERVIEW
An Iwi Chairs Forum subcommittee wants the Government to draw up an action plan for implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The Independent Monitoring Mechanism is set to make its fourth annual report on New Zealand’s compliance with the declarations to the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which meets in Geneva next month.
Chair Margaret Mutu says the previous National government signed the declaration in 2010 under pressure from the Māori Party but refused to allow it to be incorporated into any legislation or policy framework.
She’s hoping for more from the new Government, and her group has drawn up a guide.
"The bottom line in there and the first matter that must be addressed is the need for constitutional transformation to bring the country back to what it is meant to be run on which is He Whakapūtanga ō Te Rangatiratanga ō Nu Tīreni, the 1835 Declaration (of Independence), and Te Tiriti o Waitangi," she says.
Professor Mutu says Maori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta is a graduate of the University of Auckland Māori studies department so she understands New Zealand must adhere to its international obligations.
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