New Zealand: Green Party releases Maori affairs policy. The Green Party supports making the Maori seats harder to scrap.

[Harold Schiffman]

Green Party releases Maori affairs policy
NZPA | Friday October 17 2008 - 10:35am
The Green Party supports making the Maori seats harder to scrap.

National has a policy of axing the seats once all historic Treaty of
Waitangi grievances are settled. It has set a target of 2014 to
achieve its goal.The Maori Party on the other hand wants to entrench
the seats -- ensuring they could not be repealed without a 75 percent
majority in Parliament. At present a simple 50 percent majority is
needed. The Green policy released today aligns it with the Maori
Party.

Green MP Metiria Turei said general seats required a 75 percent vote
to be abolished and she had drafted a member's bill to require any
decision on Maori seats to meet the same threshold. She said the
party's Maori issues policy also included more support for Maori
education and promoting greater teaching of Maori language in schools.
The party also supported refashioning the justice system to put more
focus on restorative justice and rehabilitation. That would help Maori
people who had high rates of imprisonment.

http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/green-party-releases-maori-affairs-policy-36614

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