Māori vote tinkering ‘ignores Treaty deal’, says Te Pāti Māori president

Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere says repealing the law allowing local bodies to create Māori wards takes away Māori rights guaranteed by the Treaty of Waitangi.

National leader Chris Luxon and ACT leader David Seymour have come out against the provisions that allow voters on the Maori electoral roll to elect councillors to represent their interests.

Tamihere says Maori seats add to a council’s governance ability rather than detract from it.

He says the “race-baiters” ignore New Zealand’s constitutional history.

“Government did not get their rights through discovery,” Tamihere told Waatea.News.Com.

“They did not get their rights from conquest. They got their rights through consent. Our ancestors signed a deal saying yes Pākehā, you can come and live here, and yes you can share, but we must be equal, and you must protect our rights to our own rangatiratanga. He’s rewriting the law by taking things away from their obligations to the Treaty.”

He says Māori won’t sit by and see hard-won rights being taken away by a change of government.

Waatea.News.Com