Flagship Māori Party land reform bill left to voters' mercy

Flagship Māori Party land reform bill left to voters' mercy
Pattrick Smellie
By Pattrick Smellie July 7 (BusinessDesk) - The Māori Party has abandoned its attempt to pass sweeping reforms to the law covering collectively owned Māori land before the Sept. 23 election, saying the issue can't be rushed, despite almost two decades of consultation on the controversial Te Ture Whenua Māori Bill. The backdown is a tactical defeat for the party's co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell. However, the party appears to have decided that passing the bill under urgency would have more harmful politically than risking its abandonment if th...