Winston Peters says if New Zealand First is in Government Kiwis will be asked two questions in a binding referendum - if the Maori seats should be abolished, and if Parliament should be reduced to 100 MPs.
Mr Peters spoke to a crowd of about 500 to end his party's election-year conference at the Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau yesterday, with a central theme being the "shiny bums'' and "latte-sippers'' of the main centres looking down on those in the regions.
On abolishing the Maori seats, Mr Peters said such a move would empower Maori.
"When did you ever hear Buck Shelford say, `don't tackle me too hard because I'm Maori'? ... Maori don't need the Maori seats, they don't need any more tokenism.
"Maori progress, economically and socially, has been massively side-tracked, detoured by the Waitangi industry.''
Mr Peters said the policies would be put to Kiwis in a mid-term referendum.
