May 05, 2021
Maori Party backs ACT Uyghur protest
The Māori Party is backing an ACT Party motion declaring concern over China's treatment of its Muslim Uyghur minority.
The motion to be debated today was amended by the House business committee to remove an allegation of genocide.
Māori Party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer says she was concerned the motion was watered down.
She says parliament needs to call out atrocities for what they are, where ever they are happening in the world.
Ms Ngarewa Packer says Te Pāti Māori has a strong track record on standing up for human rights and indigenous rights in Aotearoa and internationally.
China has denied its actions in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region are genocide, or that it has more than a million Uyghurs in detention camps.
Her co-leader Rawiri Waititi says ACT is well known for pushing colonial agendas that oppress indigenous peoples, so he hopes it extends its new moral position to what happens in Aotearoa.
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