![\"Composition](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/maori-wards-on-local-councils-local-government-EDZUE7JOCRBU5GS3EG7NH44TWI.jpg\")
<\/p>\nCost of living is the dominant issue for M\u0101ori voters, and only 17% believe the Government is doing a good job of running the country \u2014 while 72% say it is doing a poor job, according to a new Whakaata M\u0101ori poll.<\/p>\n
The Curia Market Research poll of 1000 M\u0101ori adults, carried out between August 29 and September 10, additionally found 12% of those surveyed were unsure.<\/p>\n
The poll also surveyed M\u0101ori on their voting intentions. <\/p>\n
Whatitiri Te Wake of Te Ao M\u0101ori and Mani Dunlop of The Post speak to Breakfast about the poll results. (Source: Breakfast)<\/p>\n
Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori led the party vote among voters on the M\u0101ori roll with 29%, but attracted just 3% of M\u0101ori on the general roll.<\/p>\n
The three parties of the National-led coalition government drew just 8% support from M\u0101ori on the M\u0101ori roll, rising to 23% among M\u0101ori on the general roll. <\/p>\n
The poll comes after a term in which the Government’s approach to M\u0101ori issues has been among its most contested.<\/p>\n
The walk began at Parliament with waiata from local iwi and kura. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
Cost of living dominates<\/p>\n
Asked to name the single biggest issue facing M\u0101ori today, respondents pointed overwhelmingly to the cost of living at 42%, with M\u0101ori-Crown relations second at 15%.<\/p>\n
Health and housing each drew 7%, jobs, education and te reo M\u0101ori each sat at 6%, crime was named by 3% and the environment by 2%. Seven per cent were unsure.<\/p>\n
In particular, cost of living was the main concern for younger M\u0101ori \u2014 cited by 49% of those aged 18 to 30. Older M\u0101ori were more likely to nominate M\u0101ori-Crown relations.<\/p>\n
In T\u0101maki Makaurau, 33% of M\u0101ori polled said the Government was doing a good job, as did 22% in Te Whanganui-a-Tara and 19% in \u014ctautahi.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Composition image by Vania Chandrawidjaja (Source: Getty \/ 1News) (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
That figure fell away steeply outside the main centres, dropping to 9% in t\u0101one (towns), and just 4% in taiwhenua (rural) areas where 81% rated performance as poor.<\/p>\n
Dissatisfaction also ran deeper among w\u0101hine (women) than t\u0101ne (men). <\/p>\n
Only 10% of w\u0101hine rated performance as good, against 24% of t\u0101ne. Nearly four in five w\u0101hine, 78%, said the Government was doing a poor job, compared with 65% of t\u0101ne.<\/p>\n
Views differed by age as well but Government dissatisfaction was broadly high. <\/p>\n
M\u0101ori aged 46 to 60 were the harshest with 79% rating the Government poorly and only 11% positively. The good-job rating was highest, at 22%, among those aged 61 and over.<\/p>\n
Have internal rifts hurt Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori?<\/p>\n
The poll also asked whether Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori’s internal divisions last year had changed how people viewed voting for the party. <\/p>\n
Overall, 31% of M\u0101ori said divisions made them less likely to vote for the party, while 17% said they were more likely and 38% said it made no difference \u2014 14% were unsure.<\/p>\n
New party launched means a four-way race for the M\u0101ori electorate. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
But the effect was split by what roll voters were on \u2014 among those on the M\u0101ori roll, 27% said the divisions made them more likely to vote for the party and 27% less likely, compared with 5% and 35% respectively among those on the general roll.<\/p>\n
Divisions came to a head late in 2025, when Te Tai Tokerau MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and Te Tai Tonga MP T\u0101kuta Ferris split from the party’s leadership after a prolonged internal dispute. The fallout produced Kapa-Kingi’s Te Tai Tokerau Party.<\/p>\n
Despite the turmoil, the party’s M\u0101ori-roll vote had held at around 30%, and it remained the party M\u0101ori most often named as understanding their aspirations.<\/p>\n
Split between M\u0101ori and general roll<\/p>\n
The poll found big differences between results on the M\u0101ori and general roll. <\/p>\n
Compared with the 2023 election result, Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori’s support among M\u0101ori-roll voters held broadly steady, moving from 30% to 31%. Labour’s share fell from 44% to 28%, while the Greens climbed from 9% to 17%. These comparisons excluded undecided voters.<\/p>\n
When including the 5% of unsure voters on the roll, Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori’s support was at 29%; Labour 27%; Greens 16%; NZ First 6%; Te Tai Tokerau Party 4%; and others on 11%.<\/p>\n
The party made the announcement during its M\u0101ori campaign launch at Wainuiomata Marae in Lower Hutt. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
On the general roll among M\u0101ori, Labour was the most popular party, drawing 35%, with the Greens on 18%. National and NZ First both sat at 10%; Opportunity 6%; Alliance 4%; while Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori and ACT were on 3%. Other parties were on 4%, and 7% were unsure.<\/p>\n
When tallied across all M\u0101ori voters, Labour was ultimately the most popular party on 31%, followed by Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori on 18%, the Greens on 17%, NZ First on 8%, National on 6% and Opportunity on 4%. A further 6% were undecided.<\/p>\n
When asked what party best understands the aspirations of M\u0101ori, a plurality of 47% chose Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori, followed by Labour on 15% and the Greens on 9%. <\/p>\n
Curia Market Research, one of New Zealand’s long-established political pollsters, operated outside the Research Association, having quit the body in 2024.<\/p>\n
The poll surveyed 1000 respondents \u2013 500 by phone and 500 through an online panel \u2013 and carried a maximum sampling error of +\/- 3.1% at the 95% confidence level, with sub-groups such as gender, age, roll and area subject to a higher margin of error.<\/p>\n
The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including how hard it might be to shake up our supermarkets, and speculation mounts over the new James Bond. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cost of living is the dominant issue for M\u0101ori voters, and only 17% believe the Government is doing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":602701,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8028,4432,111,43,139,69,135,8027,10872],"class_list":["post-602700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-labour-party","tag-maori-issues","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-politics","tag-te-pati-maori","tag-torangapu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602700","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=602700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/602701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}