MAORIS AND LIQUOR

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 77, Issue 6975, 8 October 1948, Page 6

MAORIS AND LIQUOR

KING COUNTRY REFERENDUM PARLIAMENTARY PETITION Mjr W. J. Broadfoot, M.P., has forwarded a precis of a petition presented to the House of Representatives from North Auckland Maoris. The petition asks that the Maoris be given the same rights under the liquor laws as are enjoyed by the pakeha. but asks that the request made in it be not applied to Maoris in the King Country unless they desire that the present restrictions in that territory should be removed and unless they wish to be regarded as on the same footing as other Maoris of , both islands in the event of a decision being returned in favour of equal rights with Europeans. The petition contained a request that consideration be given to holding a referendum at the next general election in resnect to licensing laws as they affect the Maori people. Advocating equality of Maoris with Europeans in respect of the licensing law, the petitioners state that the present law is anomalous because the South Island Maoris are not affected, being treated in the same manner as Europeans; because Fijians, Samoans, and Raratongans are allowed the same privileges as Europeans, while North Island Maoris are not: and because a Maori woman married to a European is not affected by the restrictions which apply to a Maori man married to a European woman.