PM rejects proposal of Maori parliament

WELLINGTON: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has ruled out the idea of a Maori parliament but sidestepped other questions about a report on Maori selfdetermination, instead accusing the Opposition leader of politicking.

National Party leader Judith Collins said on Saturday the Government was seeking to create ‘‘two systems by stealth’’, with separate systems for Maori, by enacting recommendations in the report, He Puapua, without public consultation.

The report was produced by a working group in 2019, tasked by the Government to recommend how New Zealand could realise its commitments under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

It draws together multiple documents and reports on Maori rangatiratanga, or selfdetermination, and includes a road map to 2040 by which time various cogovernance and Maorirun arrangements could be in place, including a separate court and health system to address the huge inequities at present facing Maori.

Despite then Maori development minister Nanaia Mahuta receiving the report in November 2019, it had not been discussed at Cabinet level, Ms Ardern said yesterday.

She reiterated she would rule out some recommendations in the report, including establishing a separate Maori parliament, but declined to comment further on ‘‘individual elements that have not even been before Cabinet’’.

She said the way National had latched on to the report, labelling it ‘‘separatist’’ and ‘segregationist’’, was ‘‘really disappointing’’ and ‘‘nothing more than pure politics’’.

‘‘The very issue the leader is trying to attract attention to is a declaration she, her Cabinet, signed up to, and now is trying to politicise for nothing more than pure politics.

‘‘I think New Zealand is at a point in politics where we have moved beyond this.’’

The next step was engaging the public on what implementation means for New Zealand.

‘‘We’ll undertake that process — and very openly.’’

On National’s concerns around the proposed Maori health authority and its ability to veto decisions on general health decisions, Ms Ardern said it was more about making sure the Maori voice was heard on issues of concern.

‘‘If we are to see a stepchange in health, we need to make sure it works for every New Zealander.’’

Following Ms Ardern’s comments, Ms Collins issued a statement again calling for the Government to be more upfront on its views about He Puapua.

‘‘Jacinda Ardern can’t skirt the issue of where she stands on these issues by claiming the report hasn’t found its way to the Cabinet table,’’ Ms Collins said.

‘‘The recommendations in He Puapua could dramatically reshape how democracy looks in this country under an approach of having one system for Maori and another system for everyone else across multiple layers of government.

‘‘The Prime Minister should not be afraid of telling New Zealanders where she stands on the report. They deserve to know what her Government will do with it.’’

Ms Collins said it was right to acknowledge and address the wrongs of the past, but not division along racial lines concerning core services and things such as the foreshore and seabed.

‘‘We are better off addressing the flaws within the current systems that aren’t working for Maori. Ethnicity should not divide us. We are better together.’’

University of Auckland Associate Prof Claire Charters, who chaired the Declaration Working Group that produced the report, said Ms Collins’ framing was ‘‘ironic’’ given the report was intended to unify rather than divide.

‘‘It is about how, under one state, we can have joint authority in some areas and not in others, others led by the Crown and others Maori.

‘‘Maori continue to suffer under the current system, and until that is addressed there will be no hope for unity.’’

Prof Charters agrees with Ms Collins on one point — the Government needs to state its position and how it plans to proceed.

‘‘We asked for it to be released a long time ago.

‘‘I wish it had been, so we could have started with an intelligent discussion, and it is unfortunate it has started this way.’’ — The New Zealand Herald