Post by Kiwi Frontline on Jul 13, 2019 6:06:17 GMT 12
TAKING A SHORT CUT TO POWER
Sigh. Here we go again.
According to a TVNZ news report, Northland Māori are lobbying for greater representation in local government. Despite having one of the highest Māori populations in the country, Northland iwi leaders say the lack of Māori representation on district councils means Māori are not being heard.
Ngāti Hine kaumātua Pita Tipene laments that local government legislation and processes are "shutting out our people". Not for the first time, compulsory Māori seats have been touted as one possible answer.
But the solution to the lack of Māori representation is achingly obvious.
According to TVNZ, Māori make up an estimated 50 per cent of the Northland population. It follows that if Māori candidates put themselves forward for election and persuade other Māori people to support them, Māori councillors will be elected.
In the indelicate but admirably blunt language of Te Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin Davis in 2016, Northland Māori need to get off their arses and vote. But some Māori leaders prefer to take a short cut to power.
If Māori engaged more actively in local government both as voters and candidates, 50 per cent of Northland council seats could be occupied by Māori – possibly more, since non-Māori voters are likely to support good Māori candidates, just as they have done elsewhere in New Zealand.
That 50 per cent figure gives Northland Māori the potential to become highly influential and possibly even dominant in local government. The remedy is in their hands if only they choose to seize it. Isn't that how democracy is supposed to work?
But no, we keep hearing that Māori are disempowered. They are "disengaged", to use a fashionable term – too disengaged, evidently, to use the democratic rights open to every citizen.
The only possible solution, we keep being told, is to create special mechanisms which would guarantee them a place at council tables, such as the creation of special Māori wards or the establishment of voting rights for unelected Māori representatives – as was disgracefully provided in law for Auckland City and adopted by the district council in my home town of Masterton.
What we're really talking about here is power through the back door. The advocates of guaranteed Māori representation want to bypass the democratic hurdles that other candidates for public office must leap over.
The debate then becomes a philosophical one about whether Māori are so disadvantaged and demoralised that they should be given political rights not available to others.
The powerful counter-argument is that to grant special rights to any segment of the population, whether on the basis of race or any other factor, is a potentially lethal compromise of democratic principles, which hold that no group of voters should wield more power than others.
Ordinary New Zealanders obviously recognise this hazard, even if their elected leaders don't. Every time well-intentioned but wrong-headed councils have pushed for the creation of Māori wards, they have been emphatically defeated in referendums.
We're told this is because we're a racist society bent on preventing Māori from acquiring power.
But hang on a minute. The evidence shows that where strong Māori candidates put themselves forward for office, Pākehā as well as Māori voters will support them. Does that sound racist?
In the last local government elections three years ago, Porirua elected its first Māori mayor, Mike Tana, who beat a favoured Pākehā rival. Wellington acquired a Māori deputy mayor, Paul Eagle – now the Labour MP for Rongotai – and a new Māori councillor, Jill Day, who has since taken over the deputy mayoralty. Eagle, incidentally, had increased his majority in three consecutive council elections.
In those same 2016 elections, South Wairarapa voters elected three Māori to their district council. Napier gained a Māori councillor, Api Tapine, and Wiremu Te Awe Awe was elected to the Horizons Regional Council. All this happened without the benefit of separate Māori wards or other forms of special treatment.
No doubt there were other examples that I'm not aware of. I could also point out that two previous mayors of Carterton, Georgina Beyer and Ron Mark, are Māori, and that former rugby league star Howie Tamati served on the New Plymouth District Council for 15 years (yet contradictorily insisted in 2015 that New Plymouth Māori needed their own ward).
All of these people were elected by Pākehā voters. Racist? I don't think so. The record shows that non-Maori voters will back good Māori candidates. But of course such candidates have to put themselves forward first, rather than wringing their hands in anguish over supposed Maori disempowerment.
Oh, and did I mention that there are 29 Māori MPs in the current Parliament, including 23 elected by voters on the general roll. Racist? Really?
By Karl du Fresne
breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com/2019/07/karl-du-fresne-taking-short-cut-to-power.html
Sigh. Here we go again.
According to a TVNZ news report, Northland Māori are lobbying for greater representation in local government. Despite having one of the highest Māori populations in the country, Northland iwi leaders say the lack of Māori representation on district councils means Māori are not being heard.
Ngāti Hine kaumātua Pita Tipene laments that local government legislation and processes are "shutting out our people". Not for the first time, compulsory Māori seats have been touted as one possible answer.
But the solution to the lack of Māori representation is achingly obvious.
According to TVNZ, Māori make up an estimated 50 per cent of the Northland population. It follows that if Māori candidates put themselves forward for election and persuade other Māori people to support them, Māori councillors will be elected.
In the indelicate but admirably blunt language of Te Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin Davis in 2016, Northland Māori need to get off their arses and vote. But some Māori leaders prefer to take a short cut to power.
If Māori engaged more actively in local government both as voters and candidates, 50 per cent of Northland council seats could be occupied by Māori – possibly more, since non-Māori voters are likely to support good Māori candidates, just as they have done elsewhere in New Zealand.
That 50 per cent figure gives Northland Māori the potential to become highly influential and possibly even dominant in local government. The remedy is in their hands if only they choose to seize it. Isn't that how democracy is supposed to work?
But no, we keep hearing that Māori are disempowered. They are "disengaged", to use a fashionable term – too disengaged, evidently, to use the democratic rights open to every citizen.
The only possible solution, we keep being told, is to create special mechanisms which would guarantee them a place at council tables, such as the creation of special Māori wards or the establishment of voting rights for unelected Māori representatives – as was disgracefully provided in law for Auckland City and adopted by the district council in my home town of Masterton.
What we're really talking about here is power through the back door. The advocates of guaranteed Māori representation want to bypass the democratic hurdles that other candidates for public office must leap over.
The debate then becomes a philosophical one about whether Māori are so disadvantaged and demoralised that they should be given political rights not available to others.
The powerful counter-argument is that to grant special rights to any segment of the population, whether on the basis of race or any other factor, is a potentially lethal compromise of democratic principles, which hold that no group of voters should wield more power than others.
Ordinary New Zealanders obviously recognise this hazard, even if their elected leaders don't. Every time well-intentioned but wrong-headed councils have pushed for the creation of Māori wards, they have been emphatically defeated in referendums.
We're told this is because we're a racist society bent on preventing Māori from acquiring power.
But hang on a minute. The evidence shows that where strong Māori candidates put themselves forward for office, Pākehā as well as Māori voters will support them. Does that sound racist?
In the last local government elections three years ago, Porirua elected its first Māori mayor, Mike Tana, who beat a favoured Pākehā rival. Wellington acquired a Māori deputy mayor, Paul Eagle – now the Labour MP for Rongotai – and a new Māori councillor, Jill Day, who has since taken over the deputy mayoralty. Eagle, incidentally, had increased his majority in three consecutive council elections.
In those same 2016 elections, South Wairarapa voters elected three Māori to their district council. Napier gained a Māori councillor, Api Tapine, and Wiremu Te Awe Awe was elected to the Horizons Regional Council. All this happened without the benefit of separate Māori wards or other forms of special treatment.
No doubt there were other examples that I'm not aware of. I could also point out that two previous mayors of Carterton, Georgina Beyer and Ron Mark, are Māori, and that former rugby league star Howie Tamati served on the New Plymouth District Council for 15 years (yet contradictorily insisted in 2015 that New Plymouth Māori needed their own ward).
All of these people were elected by Pākehā voters. Racist? I don't think so. The record shows that non-Maori voters will back good Māori candidates. But of course such candidates have to put themselves forward first, rather than wringing their hands in anguish over supposed Maori disempowerment.
Oh, and did I mention that there are 29 Māori MPs in the current Parliament, including 23 elected by voters on the general roll. Racist? Really?
By Karl du Fresne
breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com/2019/07/karl-du-fresne-taking-short-cut-to-power.html