December 01, 2023
He Puapua already dead says Jackson
Labour’s Māori spokesperson Willie Jackson says the new coalition’s instruction for work to stop on He Puapua is trying to make something of nothing.
He Puapua was a discussion document commissioned five years ago by then-minister Nanaia Mahuta in an attempt to understand the implications of the John Key-led National Government signing New Zealand up to the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Mr Jackson says it’s not something he spent a lot of time on when he took over as minister.
“I mean how stupid are they. The work on He Puapua stopped two or three years ago. I don’t know who’s advising them – maybe Winston (Peters) is giving them advice on this. There is no more He Puapua and for them to say we will not be legally bound by the indigenous declaration, we already knew that too, because we weren’t,” he says.
Mr Jackson says the actions taken by the coalition to dismantle Labour’s Maori initiatives are causing worry and anger within Maoridom, and could spark major protests.