Māori Party Media Advisory

23 January 2013

The Māori Party National Council met today [23 Jan] at Whangaehu marae to discuss a range of party issues following their attendance at the Ratana celebrations this week.

"The hui had robust discussions around our constitution and our processes. Amongst a number of decisions made on party matters the hui confirmed there will be no immediate change in leadership. Tariana Turia and Dr Pita Sharples will continue as co-leaders,” said Māori Party President, Pem Bird.

"However we will convene a special meeting in the next few months to discuss the constitution further and how leadership changes should take place now and into the future.

"Te Ururoa has signalled that he wishes to be given the opportunity to co-lead the party and so the Māori Party needs to work through constitutional and procedural processes as part of our succession planning,” said Māori Party President Pem Bird.

"Te Ururoa is a highly valued member of parliament. As announced last year, Tariana Turia will be stepping down at the 2014 general election and Dr Sharples will stand again at the next general election.

There will be no further comments on party leadership.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Arguably Reassuring: Inspector-General Finds GCSB "Arguably" Legal

Of the 88 individuals:

• 15 cases involving 22 individuals did not have any information intercepted by GCSB.

• another four cases involving five individuals were the subjects of a New Zealand Security Intelligence Service warrant and the GCSB assisted in the execution of the warrants. The Inspector-General is of the view that there were arguably no breaches and the law is unclear.

• the Bureau only provided technical assistance which did not involve interception of communications, involving three of the individuals, so no breach occurred.

• the remaining cases involved the collection of metadata, and the Inspector-General formed the view that there had arguably been no breach, noting once again that the law is unclear.
More>>