The Confidence and Supply Agreement with the Greens – Items of Significance for Māori – 27 October 2017 (edition 35/2017)
- In addition to the above, the Labour Party has a confidence and supply agreement with the Green Party. This agreement has twenty policy statements, three of which we consider will be of particular significance to Māori, as outlined below.
| Fair Society
· ‘Overhaul the welfare system, ensure access to entitlements, remove excessive sanctions and review Working for Families so that everyone has a standard of living and income that enables them to live in dignity and participate in their communities, and lifts children and their families out of poverty.’ o significant because Māori are over-represented as recipients of social welfare, and in the application of sanctions. · ‘Honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi as the country’s founding document’. · ‘increase funding for alcohol and drug addiction services and ensure drug use is treated as a health issue, and have a referendum on legalising the personal use of cannabis at, or by, the 2020 general election.’ o significant as Māori are over-represented as consumers of cannabis, and in criminal offending relating to the consumption of cannabis. (refer to the Ministry of Health Drug Use Survey 2015 for usage information.) |
