The Government is ignoring the problems of ordinary Maori by appeasing what "so-called" Maori leaders, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says.
Winston Peters - may be kingmaker Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski
The former Maori Affairs Minister made his state of the nation speech in Auckland today, in which he launched an attack on what he describes as the Government's appeasement to radical Maori demands.
Mr Peters said some Maori leaders worked towards a solution for Maori but others took advantage of the situation to exploit division.
He questioned the lack of auditing and public accountability of iwi leaders, who were allocated major taxpayer funding to disperse within their iwi.
Meanwhile, Maori at the bottom were getting nothing, Mr Peters said.
He called for a pan-Maori approach to address the real problems faced by Maori over employment, education, health and housing on the basis of need.
