Former Dunedin mayor Peter Chin is among a dozen high-profile
New Zealanders who have been selected to oversee a review of
the nation's constitutional arrangements.
Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples and deputy prime
minister Bill English named the advisory panel yesterday,
hoping its members would cover a range of society.
The panel will consider the size of Parliament, the length of
the electoral term and whether New Zealand should have a
written constitution, and canvass a range of Maori matters.
Law commissioner John Burrows QC and former Ngai Tahu
chairman Sir Tipene O'Regan are co-chairmen of the panel.
Other members are: former New Zealand netball captain Bernice
Mene, former New Plymouth mayor Peter Tennent, journalist and
former MP Deborah Coddington, former deputy prime minister
Michael Cullen, Maori researcher Leonie Pihama, former
cabinet minister John Luxton, Te Kura Kaupapa teacher
Hinurewa Poutu, Waikato University pro-vice chancellor Linda
Tuhiwai Smith and Waitangi Tribunal member Ranginui Walker.
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