The Green Party has today announced a set of commitments to honour and implement Te Tiriti o Waitangi in a new progressive government.
The commitments, announced at the Party’s Māori campaign launch today, will address ongoing Te Tiriti breaches, fix the Treaty settlement process so that it is just, fair and durable, and uphold Māori representation in local and central government.
“The Greens have the most consistent track record in Parliament of supporting Te Tiriti justice, and we will have the influence to deliver on kaupapa Māori and Te Tiriti issues as the heart of a new progressive government,” Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei said.
"We will review the settlement process and put an end to ‘full and final’ settlements, to allow settlements to be revisited where situations have changed or claimants were shut out of original negotiations.
“We will ensure claims can only be settled with the agreement of the original claimants and remove the Crown’s “large natural groupings” approach to settlements.
“Māori electorates and Māori wards in local government are incredibly important, because they guarantee that there are Māori representatives who are directly accountable to Māori voters.
“We will oppose any move for a referendum on the Māori electorates and will entrench them so that they could only be removed by a 75 percent vote of Parliament, and level the playing field for local government wards or constituencies by letting councils establish Māori wards without being overturned by a poll.
“These commitments will make a real difference for hapū and iwi Māori and get us that much closer to truly honouring our founding document.
"We have more Māori candidates than ever before and are campaigning hard for the party vote from Māori voters, which is what will elect more Māori Green MPs and change the government,” Mrs Turei said.
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