16.08.2017

NZ Government delegation snubs NGO groups at UN in Geneva

SOUL, the mana whenua-led community group fighting Fletcher Residential Ltd, the Government and Auckland City over a proposed Special Housing Area on confiscated land at Ihumātao near Auckland Airport, has presented its case to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Geneva.

“The presentation was respectfully received by the Committee with the chair commenting on the gravity of the case and asking some clarifying questions” said Delwyne Roberts, one of the SOUL delegates.

Pania Newton, the SOUL delegate who presented the case, said she was disappointed that no-one from the eight-person delegation of officials from the NZ Government showed up to the meeting despite being welcome to hear the presentations from SOUL and other NZ NGOs. “The message that the NZ Government does not care about such issues is evident by their absence yesterday; this is just unacceptable”, Pania said.

Pania Newton told the Committee that the rights set out in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and the companion document the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (DRIP) make it clear that the original confiscation at Ihumātao lands was in breach of international anti-discrimination rights.

She also stressed the impact of the contemporary Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Act, which has facilitated resource consent for a commercial housing development of the land, preventing its return to the customary land owners as required by ICERD and DRIP.

The CERD Committee will hear from the NZ Government over the next two days and ask a range of questions based on the NGO reports after NZ has presented its official government report on progress towards eliminating racism and discrimination in Aotearoa New Zealand.

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