28 April 2017

Greens launch nationwide Māori Caucus tour

The Green Party’s Māori Caucus is excited to be launching a national outreach tour to engage with Māori communities, kicking off in Northland today.

“We take our role as a voice for Māori very seriously. We’re getting out and listening to Māori communities who have borne the brunt of National’s nine years of failures in housing, water quality, and the economy,” said Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei.

“We will be visiting key centres across the country to meet with hapū, iwi, and Māori organisations to understand their issues and put forward the Green vision for Aotearoa and how we will deliver for Māori in government.

“The Greens are a modern and principled choice for Māori voters; we have a consistent track record of supporting Māori aspirations and Te Tiriti justice in Parliament, and we will have the influence to deliver at the heart of the next progressive government.

“A third of the Green MPs are Māori, our strongest Māori caucus ever. Over the last two elections our party vote in the Māori electorates more than tripled and in 2017 we are going to stand the most Māori candidates in our history.

“In February, we announced our support for universal te reo Māori in schools and committed to creating a comprehensive plan to achieve it. We were thrilled with the widespread public support we received.

“As we undertake the Māori caucus tour, we are also kicking off our engagement with the education sector and te reo Māori revitalisation experts to create a plan that will ensure every Kiwi kid will learn te reo Māori from primary school onwards.

“I’m really proud that more and more of our people see that the Greens are leading on the important issues for Māori and represent the next generation of progressive Māori leadership in Parliament”, said Mrs Turei.

Notes
Tour dates and locations:
28 April: Northland
12 May: Auckland
19 May: East Coast
9th of June: Wellington
28th of July: Christchurch

Māori Caucus MPs:
Metiria Turei, Co-Leader (Ngāti Kahungungu ki Wairarapa, Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi)
Denise Roche, Chair of Māori caucus (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Huri)
Marama Davidson, Māori Development spokesperson (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou)
David Clendon, Justice spokesperson (Ngāpuhi, Te Roroa)

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