Racist law should be removed

WELLINGTON – The New Zealand government is to look into whether parts of a historic law described as “New Zealand’s most racist” should be struck off the books, Regulatory Reform Minister Steven Joyce says. The Maori Community Development Act, passed in 1962 and currently under review by Te Puni Kokiri, allows Maori wardens to order bars to stop serving “drunk and quarrelsome” Maori – and also makes it illegal to serve alcohol at a gathering of Maori without a permit. Wellington lawyer Graeme Edgeler, who specialises in electoral law, wrote a blog post encouraging MPs to repeal what he described as “New Zealand’s most racist law”. Joyce said the offending parts of the law were “exactly the sort of stuff” he was targeting as part of the Statutes Repeal Bill unveiled last October, which would see more than 10 per cent of New Zealand’s laws taken off the books to clear out unused legislation and make the law more accessible to Kiwis. “From what I saw, it sounded like something that seriously needs to be removed from the statute books.” Joyce said he was sure the government would take a look at the issue, although its potential inclusion in the repeal bill would depend on whether that would delay the legislation. Consultation on a draft of the repeal bill was completed in December, with “dramatic changes” unlikely. - Stuff