Local Maori Party candidate Howie Tamati is supporting the Race Relations Commissioner's call for an inquiry into abuse of children in state care.
It is one of the major policies in his campaign for the Maori electorate of Te Tai Hauauru, which covers Whanganui, Manawatu, Taranaki and parts of South Waikato.
Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy asked the United Nations on Tuesday night to encourage the New Zealand Government to hold an inquiry into the abuse of children and
the disabled in state care.
Government refusals to hold an inquiry into abuse in state-run institutions were immoral, she told the UN.
"This is not my New Zealand and I urged the UN to tell our government to do the right thing."