3 Oct 2011

Constitutional review panel gets to work

6:36 am on 3 October 2011

A member of a Government-appointed team carrying out a constitutional review says he's doing some heavy reading on the topic.

Constitutional Advisory Panel co-chair Sir Tipene O'Regan of Ngai Tahu says he's busy accumulating documents - ahead of deciding what questions the group will put to tangata whenua.

He says before asking people to discuss constitutional matters, they will need to be informed.

The independent group will examine topics from Maori seats in Parliament and the role of the Treaty of Waitangi, through to whether there should be a written constitution.

Sir Tipene says the 12-strong panel has so far met twice.

He says by Christmas it will spell out to the Government how it will do the review and how it plans to engage with the public next year.