Wednesday, September 20, 2006



Repealing the Foreshore and Seabed Act?

The Maori Party are finally set to introduce their first Member's Bill, with the aim of repealing the Foreshore and Seabed Act. As someone who opposed the Act, I think this is a laudable goal, but I also don't think it can get the numbers. While the Greens and ACT will vote for repeal, I doubt that United Future will - while they voted against, their objection was primarily terminological, and they supported the Act's general aims. More importantly, there is the question of National. While they have talked about repeal, we should not forget that they opposed the legislation not because it was a denial of the equality under the law they claimed to be demanding, but because they thought it was too generous to Maori. So I don't think there's much hope of such a bill passing. Still, it is worth putting in the ballot, if only to remind the government of its betrayal and put it on the spot with Maori voters again.

Hopefully this means the Maori Party's other proposed bills will be appearing soon as well.

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