Treaty is NZ law
The Treaty of Waitangi is not an optional extra for local councillors.
The Treaty is New Zealand law. Local councillors are a part of government, and bound by the Treaty as much as central government.
The Treaty, as decided by the Waitangi Tribunal, requires councillors to work fairly in partnership with Māori communities.
The Local Government Act 2002 Section 77 states that any significant decision relating to land must take into account the relationship of Māori and their culture and traditions with their ancestral land.
Members of the public can make submissions that ignore fairness to Māori, but councillors do not have that freedom.
By law they are required to disregard submissions unfair to Māori.
They are not free to put their own personal view ahead of what the law requires, and professing belief in racial equality is not a free pass to then make decisions that are unfair to Māori.
Peter Dey
Welcome Bay
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