The Green Party has unveiled its plan to return land wrongly taken from Māori.
If part of the next government, the Greens would amend the Public Works Act to prevent Māori land being taken in future.
It would repeal the 2008 deadline to lodge new Treaty claims and reinstate the ability for the Waitangi Tribunal to make recommendations on privately-owned land, as it comes on the property market.
The Greens also want to establish a Royal Commission to investigate land taken through breaches of the Treaty.
Party co-leader Marama Davidson said returning Māori land was the right thing to do.
"Colonial land theft has caused severe disconnection and locked whānau in poverty, and this has fed ongoing inequities for Māori within the health, education and justice systems.
"As Aotearoa approaches the 185-year anniversary of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and the 50-year anniversary of the Treaty of Waitangi Act, the time is now to reflect on next steps to ensure the promise of Te Tiriti is honoured and wrongs are put right.
"The Green Party will show the political leadership needed to recognise tino rangatiratanga and repair the harms of the past," says Davidson.
5 comments
REALLY
Posted on 17-07-2023 21:46 | By The Caveman
That's under the Greens ideas - it's the WHOLE of Tauranga !!
greens
Posted on 18-07-2023 09:25 | By dumbkof2
well that's sealed their fate
Greens Are A Goner
Posted on 19-07-2023 07:20 | By Thats Nice
Bye bye Greens.
Who decides?
Posted on 19-07-2023 13:49 | By morepork
Whether land was taken "unfairly" or not? Loss of land was a penalty for rebellion against the Crown. After nearly 200 years, it is reasonable to assume that these cases have been tried and decided by Courts. Reparations have been made where cases of unjust confiscation of land were found to be true. It can't go on indefinitely because some descendants see a chance to make a few bob... Greens changing legislation and trying to re-instate mechanisms that have served their turn, simply wastes existing resources. A Royal Commission (if its conclusions were accepted, and this aggravation could be put behind us) might be valuable, but a licence to prolong grievances, is not going anywhere. "Tino rangatiratanga" (sovereignty) was ceded to Queen Victoria under Article 1 of the treaty. Ownership of land was retained by Maori, on condition that the Crown had first option to purchase.
Long Ago
Posted on 19-07-2023 18:58 | By k Smith
Well this has been going on for a very long time. Many treaty claims are yet to be settled. Yes land was wrongfully taken but understand the main reason the colonials ( British Monarchy) come to NZ was land grab and slavery. These documents/orders were given to the army generals. The documents were found in the archives of the oxford university. Africa by Cecil Rhodes,
Australia Aboriginal, and NZ Maori are in those Documents.The treaty was setup by the colonials not democracy. This needs to be sorted asap and the treaty claims and Maori needs to be done in a fair and democratic way to look after all New Zealanders. Maori culture is very highly respected around the world and welcomed by many tourists, sporting people etc. Lets capture this interest for all of us.
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