PRESS RELEASE

A Turkey Calling for an Early Xmas

MANA Leader Hone Harawira

Thursday August 2nd

“National calling for an early answer from the Waitangi Tribunal is like a Turkey calling for an early Xmas” said MANA Leader Hone Harawira. “They’re going to get a bad result so what’s the rush?”

Harawira’s comment comes after Government asked the Tribunal to provide a final report on the New Zealand Maori Council claim on water rights by the end of this month.

The Tribunal released an interim recommendation earlier this week asking that government halt all asset sales until the issue of Maori water rights were resolved. Any delay is likely to disrupt government’s plan to launch the sale of shares in Mighty River Power in early September.

“Government opposed the urgency hearing. Then they said they would ignore the rulings of the Tribunal” said Harawira. “Now they want to force the Tribunal to give an early answer?”

Harawira said that the government should simply wait for the process to run its course. “The Tribunal is already working under urgency. I don’t think a hasty answer is in anyone’s best interests right now.”

“Clearly the Tribunal’s processes are at odds with government’s plans to sell state assets and just as clearly, government wants to get the Tribunal’s ruling out of the way. But forcing the issue is not a good look.”

“As this saga drags on it’s also becoming increasingly more difficult for the Maori Party to keep siding with the National government” said Harawira. “It’s time to come clean - they’re either with their people or they’re with the government on this one”.

“If this is what the Maori Party mean by a ‘mana-enhancing’ relationship, then clearly they have a different understanding of mana to me and every other Maori I know”

“Mana is not about making excuses, it’s about acting with integrity”.

ENDS

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