The idea of separate jails for Maori, is turning the Treaty of Waitangi on its head, ACT leader Richard Prebble says.

Mr Prebble was responding to requests by Maori groups, revealed in the Corrections Department's new Treaty of Waitangi plan, for a parallel corrections system for Maori and marae rehabilitation.

"Article 3 of the Treaty gave Maori full rights as British citizens, which meant one law for all - and the same punishment for all. `He iwi tahi tatou' - `we are now one people'.

"The Treaty is not a separatist constitution. Articles 1 and 3 contain nothing about shared sovereignty or partnership. A handful of judges invented the partnership principle of the Treaty, at the invitation of opportunistic politicians.

"ACT will not agree to an apartheid justice system," Mr Prebble said.

ENDS

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