KEY POINTS:
Prime Minister Helen Clark made a significant advance yesterday in meeting the Maori Party's bottom line to protect the Maori seats in law by saying she had no problem with Labour preserving the Maori option.
The Maori option is the process by which Maori get the increase or decrease to the number of Maori seats through an option to enrol on the Maori roll or General roll.
Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia has said entrenchment of the Maori seats would be a bottom line for her party supporting Labour or National.
Last week, Helen Clark said Labour's commitment was to the Maori option and would offer no view on entrenchment of the Maori seats - or the option.
Yesterday, she said on TV3 that Labour was committed to the Maori electoral option.
"Can't see any problem with entrenching that. In fact you wonder why it isn't entrenched now."
But Helen Clark warned that entrenchment under the Electoral Act would not necessarily be a protection against the abolition of the Maori seats by a "marauding right-wing Government".
That was because the clause of the Electoral Act comprising all the elements of the electoral system that were entrenched was not entrenched itself.
The act says those elements of the act may be changed only by a 75 per cent majority of the Parliament or by referendum.
But a simple majority of Parliament could theoretically repeal the whole clause.
Mrs Turia could not be reached last night.
