The Maori Party is today releasing a primer to raise awareness amongst the public on the impact of recent proposals affecting treaty interpretation within the Crown consultation with Maori document.

"We believe that the issue of how the Treaty is represented in new legislation relating to the four state owned enterprises up for partial privatisation is a critical issue for Maori, and indeed all New Zealanders," said Mr Flavell.

"Given the short timeframe for consultation on this issue, we thought it necessary to put out a stimulus paper presenting key information for interested parties. We would also like to encourage anyone else with an interest in treaty understandings to do the same," he adds.

"Basically, we have about two weeks to develop a position as wh?nau, hapu and iwi on this issue. That is not much time, considering our history and the complexities of our relationship with the Treaty and the Crown."

"The accidental release of the draft consultation document for Maori revealed, through comparison with the final version, the power of our voice to make a change. It is now time to continue that momentum and start fleshing out amongst ourselves what this will mean for us," ends Mr Flavell.