The Hon Tariana Turia
Maori Party Co-Leader
19 August 2009

Maori Party says seats decision not yet final

Tariana Turia disputes the claim on 3 News tonight that a decision has already been made on Maori seats on the Auckland supercity.

“While I acknowledge the issue is in a critical phase, I don’t think anyone should be putting the cart before the horse.

“ACT has always held the view that democracy means one person, one vote and that they, together with National, value individual freedom, personal responsibility, equal citizenship and equal rights.

“We value all those concepts as well but the reality is that one person, one vote doesn’t create an equal playing field for tangata whenua and that’s why we’ve fought so hard for the creation of mana whenua seats.

“Like National and Act we want the process to be fair, but we each have our own views on how that should be achieved.”

“We call on members of the National Party caucus to make a real difference to the outcome of this issue and to convince their leadership in Cabinet.”

ENDS

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