Despite being given ample opportunity, the Local Government Minister has been unable to provide a good reason why Labour is bypassing public debate and pushing its Māori wards law change through under urgency.

“In Parliament today, Labour was pushed to justify their use of urgency to rush through a Bill to get rid of a public veto on Māori wards, and they couldn’t,” National’s Local Government spokesperson Christopher Luxon says.

“Labour is only giving Kiwis two days to submit on this legislation. That’s not enough time.

“National isn’t opposed to communities establishing Māori wards, but the people affected by that decision should have a say in it. Labour isn’t giving Kiwis the chance.

“There is certainly many more critical issues the Government could be using urgency for, such as rushing through emergency powers to address the housing shortage.

“Central Government shouldn’t be running roughshod over local communities when it comes to decisions on local government, but that’s exactly what Labour is doing.

“This is a significant change to the law and the local democracy rights of New Zealanders. If Labour was truly open and transparent it would have campaigned on this at the election.

“The National Party encourages New Zealanders to submit on this proposed law change while they can.”

© Scoop Media