Last year's `three strikes' legislation and the removal of prisoners' right to vote are in breach of human rights and will impact disproportionately on Maori, the Human Rights Commission says.
In its annual Review of Race Relations in New Zealand, the commission also said social and economic inequalities remained unacceptably high in New Zealand despite progress in relationships between the country's diverse ethnic groups.
"An unrelenting focus on the elimination of racial inequalities is needed, to ensure future generations of New Zealanders are free from this blight," Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres said at the launch of the report in Auckland.
"It is also time to examine whether there are still systemic or institutional barriers to racial equality that need to be addressed to make other interventions more effective," Mr de Bres said.
Positives in New Zealand's race relations included the growth of te reo Maori and the Maori economy, Parliament reflecting the cultural diversity of the country, and the settling of historical claims for breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi.
However, the Government would have to acknowledge that entrenched racial inequalities in health, education, employment, justice and housing continued to be a blot on New Zealand's otherwise positive record, Mr de Bres said.
"They impact most of all on New Zealand's children and young people."
The report noted that last year's introduction of the `three strikes' legislation in sentencing and the removal of prisoners' right to vote went against basic human rights principles and would impact disproportionately on Maori.
"This is of great concern, particularly since Parliament passed the legislation in both cases despite advice to the contrary from the Attorney-General."
Attorney-General Chris Finlayson told Parliament that the three-strikes legislation was "inconsistent with the right against disproportionately severe treatment", would result in "disparities between offenders that are not rationally based", and might result in "gross disproportionality in sentencing".
Also, with the removal of prisoners' right to vote, both provisions were likely to have a disproportionate effect on Maori because of their rate of conviction and imprisonment.
The report also highlighted 10 priority areas for the year.
Among them were:
- Protecting children who are vulnerable to abuse from harm and ensuring that all children equally enjoy the right to education, good health, housing and freedom from poverty;
- Identifying and working to remove any structural or institutional barriers to racial equality in the enjoyment of civil, political, social and economic rights:
- Reducing the high rate of unemployment of Maori and Pacific people, and particularly of young people;
- Reducing the number of people in our prisons and the disproportionate number of them who are Maori; and
- Making better provision for Maori representation in local government in this year's representation reviews.
NZPA