Hon Hekia Parata

National Party Maori Affairs Spokesperson

15 November 2011 Media Statement
Encouraging and supporting Maori success

The National Party will continue its hard work to improve the lives and prospects of all Maori, says Maori Affairs Spokesperson Hon Hekia Parata.

Ms Parata today released National’s Maori Affairs policy. It outlines the progress National has made for Maori families so far and the next steps in National’s plan.

“We are working hard to build strong and successful families, whanau and communities,” says Ms Parata.

“Alongside our work to build a stronger economy and create more real jobs, National is building better public services to benefit Maori.

“We have made excellent progress in a number of areas, including lifting achievement in education, improving health outcomes for whanau and helping families into housing,” says Ms Parata.

National has also focused on the settlement of historic grievances under the Treaty of Waitangi, as outlined in National’s Treaty of Waitangi negotiations policy.

“Our goal is to move beyond grievances towards a brighter future for all New Zealanders. That’s why we have progressed Treaty settlements in our first term, including achieving more than 100 significant milestones in just three years.

“If re-elected, National will further lift achievement in education, continue to improve Maori health and wellbeing, and support growth in Maori enterprise and assets. We will also continue our strong support for Maori culture, language and identity,” says Ms Parata.

Ms Parata says National has successfully worked alongside whanau, iwi and the Maori Party to build a brighter future for Maori across a number of fronts.

“There is a growing consensus that a step-change in the Crown-iwi relationship is occurring as a result of National’s engagement with Maori,” says Ms Parata.

View National’s Maori Affairs policy at: http://national.org.nz/PDF_General/Maori_Affairs_policy.pdf

ENDS

© Scoop Media