12 Oct 2011

Greens co-leader wants seat on select committee

12:15 pm on 12 October 2011

Greens co-leader Metiria Turei wants a seat on the Maori Affairs select committee for an inquiry into the well-being of Maori children.

Submissions on the issue are now open. Whanau, marae, teachers, academics, health workers - and anyone else with an interest - are being encouraged to put forward their views.

Ms Turei says she and other MPs have been working very hard to get the committee to start the inquiry.

She says one of the difficulties for the committee over the past three years is that its permanent members have all been men, but she changed the dynamics by joining the committee when it investigated the tobacco industry.