GREEN’S POLICY

WAITANGI: The Green Party wants to see an independent Maori health authority and the Government respond to calls for constitutional transformation with Te Tiriti o Waitangi at the core.

The priorities were among half a dozen unveiled at Waitangi yesterday, as the Greens vowed to continue working with tangata whenua to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

‘‘We are ready to do the mahi and with two more Green Maori MPs on board, we will ensure there is an iwiled response to the big issues that disproportionately affect Maori in Aotearoa,’’ Green Party Coleader Marama Davidson said.

Other priorities include an iwiled response to homelessness and family and sexual violence; protecting the rights of takatapui, in particular trans, intersex, and nonbinary people; and kaitiakitanga (stewardship) of whenua (land), awa (rivers) and moana (sea).

One of the key priorities for the Greens will be ensuring a government response to the report of Matike Mai, the independent Working Group on Constitutional Transformation.

There have been calls for a discussion around developing a constitutional framework with Te Tiriti at its core that recognises tino rangatiratanga, or Maori sovereignty.

Prof Margaret Mutu and Dr Moana Jackson produced the Matike Mai report in 2016, based on hundreds of hui across the country, which outlined a vision for constitutional transformation in Aotearoa.

By 2040, it called for a new political system with Maori and the government sharing power.

On Thursday, Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy said she was ‘‘very happy’’ with the current situation, but if there was a shift to a republic it was important one of the treaty partners remained the head of state.

Education spokesman Teanau Tuiono said he would push the Government to acknowledge Maori as kaitiaki (stewards) of the whenua, awa, and moana through matauranga (Maori knowledge/science). — The New Zealand Herald