Auckland Council must ‘stop sending mixed-up, messed-up messages to Maori’

If it is to succeed in its tourism ambitions, Auckland City needs to stop sending "mixed-up, messed-up messages to Maori" according to Rangi McLean, the Maori Party's candidate for the Tamaki Makaurau Maori electorate.

"On the one hand we have Mayor Len Brown boasting of plans to raise Auckland's tourism revenue from $4.8 billion in 2012 to $7.2 billion in 2021, and Kevin Bowler, CEO of Tourism NZ describing plans to revamp our 100% Pure New Zealand slogan to place more emphasis on Maori culture; while on the other hand we have David Taipari, chair of the Independent Maori Statutory Board telling us that Auckland City is massively under-spending funds allocated for social and economic services to Maori," said Mr McLean.

"Whichever of the main parties leads the government after 20 September, the Maori Party will be at the governance table. If I'm given the honour of succeeding Hon Pita Sharples as MP for Tamaki Makaurau, one of my first objectives will be to make sure that there is transparency, efficiency and immediacy in the services to Maori that are required to be rendered by Auckland City under its enabling legislation and its Treaty obligations," said Mr McLean.

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