June 05, 2015
Housing rethink needed
Maori Party co-leader Marama Fox says the Government needs to rethink its position on the role of iwi Maori in housing.
She's incensed by its attempt to make available surplus crown land in Auckland for housing without allowing Ngati Whatua to exercise its right of first refusal.
Ms Fox says the 300 house Waimahia development shows what iwi in Tamaki Makaurau are capable of, and points to the need for further discussion.
"There should be room to negotiate some type of development project for mana whenua in response to the housing crisis and they way they are going at the moment we feel is short sighted, it doesn't uphold the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and partnership between crown and iwi. I think we are rightly incensed by that," she says.
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