Debate on treaty imperative-Peters

Press, 9 August 1988, Page 8

Debate on treaty imperative-Peters

By

OLIVER RIDDELL,

in Parliament

It was imperative to have a debate on the future of the Treaty of Waitangi, said National’s spokesman on Maori Affairs, Mr Winston Peters, yesterday.

He was unrepentant about the turmoil over race relations at the National Party’s annual conference in Rotorua last week-end. Mr Peters had called for the treaty to be subject to amendment, in the same way as • the United States Constitution, so that the treaty did not become “an obsolete millstone around this country’s neck.”

A positive feature of the debate in Rotorua had been that it was creating a climate of interaction between Maori and European over the treaty, he said. There was an appalling level of intellectual laziness over the treaty and its implications, which was not helping race relations. Similarly, there was a level of expectancy being generated by the treaty which was often unrealistic, Mr Peters said. A series of forums would be held around the country during the next

six months to seek a better understanding of the treaty and its framework. National would win the next election in 1990, he said, so it had to have a constructive policy on race relations that Maori and non-Maori understood and appreciated. That was an enormous challenge, and the debate was still sterile and immature at this stage.

Far from being put “on the carpet” by the Maori Advisory Committee after his comments to National’s annual conference, constructive discussions had been held. “If anything, this whole issue has brought us together,” Mr Peters said, referring to the fact than more than 100 National Party delegates had attended the committee meeting instead of the usual. half-dozen. It had stimulated a desire in the National Party to find a fair and proper solution rather than mouth meaningless platitudes, he said.

The Press Association reports that the Minister of Maori Affairs, Mr Wetere, has warned Opposition members of Parliament to take their heads out of the sand and take heed of what Maori people have been saying on maraes for many years — "that the treaty is nonnegotiable, that it is a living contract and should never be subject to change.”

The Opposition was in for a rude awakening when it started its series of forums, he said.

“The message they will receive from Maoridom will be a loud and clear resounding ‘No’ to the claim that the treaty is a ‘creature of its time’.”

It was laughable for National to set a 10-year deadline for resolving land and fishing grievances, he said.

“They had 10 years to come to the fore and tackle land issues such as Bastion Point. We are all aware of how disastrously they handled that.

“The Opposition has an unenviable track record of neglecting past grievances.

“The party’s division on the handling of the Treaty of Waitangi does nothing to convince New Zealanders of their commitment to improving race relations or providing equitable settlements arising from breaches of the treaty,” Mr Wetere said.