Murray McCully National MP for Albany

6 June 2002

TPK aligned with radical Maori separatists

National MP Murray McCully has accused the Ministry of Maori Development of "aligning itself with radical Maori separatists" following the release of their advice to Ministers on local government reform.

The papers released under the Official Information Act include a Te Puni Kokiri paper dated 13 June 2000 advocating that local government boundaries be 're-drawn to reflect Waka or Iwi boundaries', to 'align local governance structures for the general community with Iwi and Hapu governance'.

The paper says that 'many Maori advocate for greater governance roles for Hapu and Iwi so that they can operate alongside local authorities with equal powers, authority and resources'.

'This includes the ability for Iwi/Hapu to make and enforce laws and regulations including taxes and to take some of the current functions of local authority.'

The paper also advocates making the Treaty of Waitangi binding on local authorities.

Murray McCully says the papers show that Te Puni Kokiri are "totally out of touch with reality."

"The idea that we might re-configure local government boundaries to mirror tribal boundaries, ignoring community of interest and infrastructure issues, is completely loopy.

"The fact that the so-called Ministry of Maori Development have focused on promoting Fantasyland proposals of this sort rather than focusing on practical economic development issues tell us that something is seriously wrong," Mr McCully said.

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