Feasibility of new Maori Party to be explored

10.15am

A working committee to look into the feasibility of a new Maori Party has been given the go ahead.

Dr Pita Sharples was asked to head the committee at a hui in Auckland yesterday.

He asked the gathering to imagine the scenario if there was an independent Maori party with seven or ten seats in Parliament.

He says the party would hopefully hold the balance of power and be able to stand and make a difference in any legislation regarding Maori.

Dr Sharples implored Maori to give as much as they could because he says a party will not happen without money or soldiers on the ground.

Dr Sharples has attacked both the Government and National, accusing them of letting down Maori.

He told the gathering organised by the National Urban Maori Authority at Hoani Waititi marae that the Government has failed Maori.

He says the race relations policies outlined by National Party leader Don Brash are misinformed and should be ignored.

Dr Sharples claims there are not the same proportions of Maori becoming doctors and lawyers because Maori have been marginalised for a century.

He says years of mis-education of Maori must be redressed and targeted funding is one way to do that.

He believes the issue is not about privileges, but is about Maori having the basics for their families.

National MP Georgina te Heuheu also spoke at the hui, saying recent events should have opened the eyes of Maori to the fact that there is no one in Parliament to help them

She claims that when Maori are not needed, they are just ditched.

Te Heuheu says the report on the seabed and foreshore clearly shows that the Government has breached the Treaty of Waitangi, and so breached the law.

She believes if Maori can continue to fight within the law, they will eventually see justice done.

Cabinet minister John Tamihere told the hui that Maori MPs may force a by-election by resigning if the Government confiscates their foreshore property rights.

The Associate Maori Affairs Minister was heckled as he explained why he continues to support Labour when some Maori believe the Government is ignoring its obligations to them.

Mr Tamihere says the difficulty Labour has is that it covers such a broad spectrum.

He says there are the homosexuals and homophobes, Christians and atheists, and those who support Maori and those who don't.

- Newstalk ZB