NZ First leader Winston Peters has blasted the Maori Party’s threat to leave Government, calling it an exercise in deception.
The Maori Party announced today it may consider walking out of its relationship with the National Party over plans to remove reference to the Treaty of Waitangi from legislation when state-owned assets are partially sold.
The National-led Government has begun to consult Maori on its plans to sell up to 49 percent of four state-owned energy companies and further reduce its stake in Air New Zealand – consultation which is required to proceed with the sales.
The Government says in order to sell a minority share in four energy companies, it must first remove them from the State Owned Enterprises Act, which includes references to the Treaty of Waitangi.
The Maori Party says it only learned of the development through the media - a sign it's being kept out of the loop on a highly sensitive issue.
Speaking to RadioLIVE this afternoon, Mr Peters said it is a joke the Maori Party signed a deal with National in the first place.
“They knew all this at the time; they had all the facts before them, they knew all the sales were gonna go ahead if National was in Government.
“They blindly went along with it, for reasons known best to them.”
Mr Peters said voters need to more than complain about state-owned asset sales – they should bombard the Prime Minister with letters.
Meanwhile Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples has said the Government is on notice.
“The point is, it’s a deal-breaker for Maori. It’s not about us. But Maori are quite upset about this.
“They’re saying, ‘this is march stuff’…This is hikoi territory.”
Section Nine of the SOE’s Act stops the Crown from acting in a manner inconsistent with the Treaty’s principles.
3 News/RadioLIVE