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October 21, 2022
Māori blocked from waipiro decisions
Peter Verschaffelt
Posted On October 21, 2022
Download AudioAn independent health researcher says the major power imbalance in alcohol decision-making between the booze industry and Māori could be considered a breach of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Kristen Maynard shared her research with this week’s Alcohol Action Conference in Wellington.
She says iwi submissions to the 2011 review of Sale of Alcohol Act were ignored, and the current review needs to do better.
“Pretty much our current alcohol legislation completely fails to enable any meaningful participation of Māori in alcohol decisions within their rohe and it is also completely inept for achieving equity so it really does need to be changed substantially to become treaty consistent,” Ms Maynard says.
She says evidence-based measures could reduce the disproportionate amount of harm to Māori of alcohol, including reducing availability and increasing the price.
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