September 29, 2020
Treaty claim reset in Maori Party plan
The Māori Party wants to reopen the treaty settlement process, establish a Māori parliament and put all Māori on the Māori electoral roll in time for the next election.
The party released its Te Tiriti Policy this morning at Waitangi.
Co-leader John Tamihere says it's part of a 25-year strategy to bring about major change for Māori.
The party wants to overhaul the settlement process and end the fiscal envelope, as well as insert relativity clauses into all settlements, to give all iwi parity with Ngāi Tahu and Waikato-Tainui.
It would also abolish “full and final” settlements and the “large natural groupings” approach to recognising mana whenua groups, and return conservation land to whānau, hapū and iwi Māori.
Even more controversially, it would implement a first right of refusal policy for mana whenua when private land of historical significance comes up for sale – like Ihumātao.
The party also wants to implement all recommendations contained in the 2016 Matike Mai report of the independent working group on constitutional transformation headed by academic Margaret Mutu and lawyer Moana Jackson.
It would make Waitangi Tribunal recommendations binding on the Crown, implement all unaddressed WAI claim recommendations, and establish a parliamentary commissioner to provide oversight of crown compliance with Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
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