New Zealand First says it will campaign at the next election for a referendum on the future of the M\u0101ori seats, arguing their original purpose is no longer justified under MMP.<\/p>\n
The party says the 1986 Royal Commission into the electoral system made it clear that proportional representation would create a more representative Parliament and that \u201cthe original justification for separate M\u0101ori seats would no longer exist.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leader Winston Peters says it is time to revisit the issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, you got the Royal Commission that said way back in 1996 that, in time, it came in MMP proved there was no need for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He argues M\u0101ori representation in Parliament has significantly increased.<\/p>\n
Peters also criticised Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori\u2019s conduct in Parliament.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe third thing is the M\u0101ori Party behaviours, but it\u2019s classically clear that they as far as they\u2019re concerned. Don\u2019t want the M\u0101ori seats themselves. That\u2019s where they don\u2019t turn up at Parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n
Referencing the 2023 T\u0101maki Makaurau result, he added:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you could see somebody like Peeni Henare was robbed blind in 2023, there\u2019s nothing to defend, is there. But people give me the tools, I\u2019ll finish this job. I\u2019m saying for people, if you want this change, vote for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
NZ First deputy leader Shane Jones says recent conduct has weakened the case for the seats.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe vast majority of M\u0101ori are just totally over the antics of the M\u0101ori Party, and I think they\u2019ve bought the very existence of the seats into a state of bad odour.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says after nearly three decades of MMP, the issue should be tested publicly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had 30 years of MMP since 1996, and I think it\u2019s a good idea to go out and test the electoral market and let the people decide, but know this from me over the last two and a half years, the mana and the legitimacy of the M\u0101ori seats has been reduced by the M\u0101ori Party.\u201d<\/p>\n
ACT deputy leader Brooke van Velden says her party also supports abolishing the seats, but not via referendum.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been an ACT Party position and a long-standing position that we should abolish the M\u0101ori seats because it goes against what the ACT Party\u2019s philosophy is, which is that all people are equal before the law and that it\u2019s wrong to have separate seats based on people\u2019s ethnicity.\u201d<\/p>\n
She questioned the need for a public vote.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t believe it should go to referendum, I\u2019d say, why not do it just through an act of Parliament rather than through a referendum. It looks like we\u2019ve got two parties of the coalition that agree, why not a third?\u201d<\/p>\n
Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori co-leader Rawiri Waititi rejected the proposal, pointing to NZ First\u2019s own political history.<\/p>\n
\u201cMe… me hoki atu a t\u0101tou mahara i te tau 96 n\u0101 ng\u0101 t\u016bru M\u0101ori i uru a Winston Peters me New Zealand First ki roto i te p\u0101remata nei. Kia kaua ka t\u0101tou e wareware ki t\u0113r\u0101.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says the push is politically motivated.<\/p>\n
\u201cKo te mate k\u0113 te mataku ia, kei te mataku ia n\u014d te mea ko ng\u0101 t\u0101tai whika ka puta i roto i \u014d koutou polls e k\u012bia nei, ko te iwi M\u0101ori ko r\u0101tou, ko m\u0101tou ko t\u0101tou ng\u0101 mea ka whiriwhiri ko wai te Pirimia hei te tau e haere ake nei.\u201d<\/p>\n
Waititi went further, accusing Peters of race-baiting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a whole lot of things, it\u2019s racebating, it\u2019s rage baiting to suit his votership.\u201d<\/p>\n
He defended the purpose of the M\u0101ori electorates.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe M\u0101ori seats allow for a unique M\u0101ori voice in Parliament\u2026 The M\u0101ori seats are clear; it is a clear mandate and allows us as M\u0101ori to have an independent voice in Parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n
Labour\u2019s Kieran McAnulty also dismissed the proposal and confirmed Labour would not support it.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t forget that Peters stood in the Northern seat in 1975\u2026 he was quite happy then, and when he won all the M\u0101ori seats in the nineties. And now he wants to get rid of them, I think Kiwis will see through it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He reiterated Labour\u2019s long-standing position.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe that it is M\u0101ori that should decide not only the number of seats by virtue of the number that choose to go on the M\u0101ori roll but also their existence, and we stand by that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked whether it amounts to election-year race-baiting, McAnulty responded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think it\u2019s just Winston up to his old tricks.\u201d<\/p>\n
New Zealand First maintains that if voters support retaining the M\u0101ori seats, they would remain, but says the decision should now be put directly to the public.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Zealand First says it will campaign at the next election for a referendum on the future of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126950,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[112585,111,43,139,69,12242,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-279803","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-election-2026","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz","13":"tag-nz-first","14":"tag-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}