Tamati and Judd join over rights
Maori Party general election candidate Howie Tamati has called for a government inquiry into child abuse at state-run institutions.
Tamati, who is contesting the Te Tai Hauauru electorate, said he supported Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy’s request for the United Nations to put pressure on the government for a Royal Commission of Inquiry.
‘‘I have seen first hand the links between child abuse and the high incarceration rates of our people,’’ he said.
Tamati said he worked with community-based trust, Te Ihi Tu, on kaupapa Maori rehabilitation programmes for Maori prisoners for seven years.
A Royal Commission of Inquiry into state abuse of children would raise the issue to a level of seriousness that it urgently needs, he said.
Tamati said, if elected, he would fight for the issue in parliament.
Tamati has also joined former New Plymouth mayor Andrew Judd to petition parliament for fair and equal representation of Maori in local government.
The pair plan to present a submission to parliament after the election to abolish a law which discriminated against Maori at local government level, he said.
The Local Electoral Act 2001 allowed for a binding citizens’ referendum to be held on the establishment of Maori wards, and Maori wards only, he said.
The Act allowed for a petition of five per cent of electors to require a binding poll on Maori wards.
Tamati said the Act was flawed, discriminatory, unjust, and served to directly alienate Maori rights.
‘‘The series of events surrounding this issue exposed the different application of the law for the establishment of local body wards – one for Maori and one for everything else.
‘‘Ultimately the law prevents Maori from genuinely participating in local government decision-making processes. The jurisdiction, protocols and process around establishing Maori wards on district councils should be the same as for that of other wards, such as geographical and rural wards.’’
Maori representation was ‘‘fundamentally a Treaty right,’’ he said.
He wanted Government to make it a priority in its decisionmaking.
‘‘Maori representation in local government is actually about treaty partner representation.
‘‘This country was founded on the Treaty of Waitangi and the treaty acknowledges the special rights of each partner. The Government must first and foremost approach this issue in this way.’’
Judd said the government’s approach to Maori representation on councils was unfair and inconsistent.
Judd decided not to stand again as New Plymouth mayor in the 2016 local body election after 83 per cent voted in a referendum not to support the establishment of a Maori ward on the New Plymouth District Council.
‘‘The government needs to amend and remove this archaic process of allowing petitions and polls directed at Maori.
‘‘The process of polls and referendum by one Treaty partner over another is a poor reflection of who we are, in our time.’’
New Plymouth District Council agreed to establish a Maori Ward in 2015 but the decision was overturned after the citizens’ referendum organised by Grey Power.
Judd and Tamati have requested to speak on their submissions at the justice and electoral select committee after the election.