7 September 2016

Not One More Acre – Catherine Delahunty presents petition on Public Works Act confiscations

Green MP Catherine Delahunty has presented a petition with almost 5000 signatures calling on Government to support her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill, which is due to be debated in Parliament next week.

“The Public Works Act has been used time and time again to alienate Māori from their land, leading to the struggles for Bastion Point, the Raglan golf course and to Patricia Grace’s fight to protect her land from the Kāpiti Expressway, which inspired my Bill,” said Ms Delahunty.

“The Green Party has taken this petition around the country and people have shared with us their own stories of the loss of Māori land under the Act and their desire to see an end to compulsory confiscations once and for all.

“My hope is that the petition will be referred to the Māori Affairs Select Committee so that the public, including those whose land has been affected, can have their say.

“Supporting this Bill gives Parliament the opportunity to ensure that historical injustices aren’t repeated. The Bill will ensure that not one more acre of Māori freehold and customary land can ever again be taken without consent,” said Ms Delahunty.

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Gordon Campbell: On The New Government’s Policies Of Yesteryear

Winston Peters is routinely described as the kingmaker who decides whether the centre right or the centre-left has a turn at running this country. He also plays a less heralded, but equally important role as the scapegoat who can be blamed for killing taxes that his senior partners never much wanted in the first place. Neither Ardern nor Robertson for example, really wanted a capital gains tax, for fear of Labour copping the “tax and spend“ label they ended up being saddled with anyway. Usefully though, they could tell the party faithful it was wicked old Winston who killed the CGT. More