Post by Kiwi Frontline on Jul 23, 2017 9:52:22 GMT 12
From the NZCPR archives by Professor Philip Joseph
THE MAORI SEATS IN PARLIAMENT
My interest was with the royal commission’s supplementary recommendation – to abolish the Maori seats should New Zealand adopt MMP. I examined closely the reasons advanced and could not find fault.
Here are the reasons why I believe the Maori seats lack justification and should be abolished:
(1) the seats are unnecessary to secure effective representation of Maori;
(2) the seats invite “overhang” that skews the proportionality of the House of Representatives;
(3) the seats entrench a form of historical paternalism that removes Maori issues from the mainstream political agenda;
(4) the seats are a form of reverse discrimination fundamentally at odds with Western human rights values; and
(5) justifications derived from the Treaty of Waitangi are flawed......
Read Professor Philip Joseph’s full informative article here > www.nzcpr.com/test-post-101/
Feb 21, 2009
THE MAORI SEATS IN PARLIAMENT
My interest was with the royal commission’s supplementary recommendation – to abolish the Maori seats should New Zealand adopt MMP. I examined closely the reasons advanced and could not find fault.
Here are the reasons why I believe the Maori seats lack justification and should be abolished:
(1) the seats are unnecessary to secure effective representation of Maori;
(2) the seats invite “overhang” that skews the proportionality of the House of Representatives;
(3) the seats entrench a form of historical paternalism that removes Maori issues from the mainstream political agenda;
(4) the seats are a form of reverse discrimination fundamentally at odds with Western human rights values; and
(5) justifications derived from the Treaty of Waitangi are flawed......
Read Professor Philip Joseph’s full informative article here > www.nzcpr.com/test-post-101/
Feb 21, 2009