July 29, 2019
Davidson wants iwi in charge at Ihumātao
Greens co-leader Marama Davidson says the stand off at Ihumātao could have been avoided if the Government had talked to the occupiers earlier.
Ms Davidson says she has been in touch with Save our Unique Landscape or SOUL for five years, and they have operated as a unified whānau resisting the Fletcher Building development of 480 homes on the privately-owned site.
She says SOUL's ability to mobilise opposition once trespass notices were served last week is testament to people power, and it has made the Government sit up and listen.
She was disappointed last week's Māori affairs select committee report only asked the Government to take note of what was happening, rather than make recommendations on a resolution.
"But the consensus from the committee has at least been for the Government to take note of the situation, not to ignore it. I would like to ask now ask they consider all options to turn the full decision making back to the mana whenua and all the iwi involved rather than just Fletcher driving the project," Ms Davidson says.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters yesterday rejected suggestions the Ihumātao stand off was the equivalent of the Bastion point Occupation of 40 years ago.
He said the only people with a right to participate in settling the dispute over the land were those who'd been keeping that land warm over the centuries.
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