Post by Kiwi Frontline on Apr 15, 2024 5:45:35 GMT 12
Barrie Davis: THERE WILL ALWAYS BE AN ENGLAND.
A central tenet of a constitutional democracy is that “the vote of every voter has equal value” (Palmer, 2022, 12). But that is not the case when we have exclusive Maori seats in our parliament and councils. That is because Maori electorates have fewer voters than general seats (here) and much the same applies to Maori wards on councils (Ian Anderson, here), so a Maori vote has greater value. Academic lawyer Philip Joseph claims “The separate seats inflate Maori parliamentary representation … they are anachronistic, they institutionalise Maori separatism, they represent a form of reverse discrimination and they threaten to manipulate MMP electoral outcomes through ‘overhang’.” (here, p. 22, 21) We cannot claim to have a true democracy in New Zealand until the Maori seats are abolished. It has been National Party policy to abolish them, but for no good reason John Key deferred the policy until the Treaty of Waitangi settlements process is complete. We are now almost at that point and so the National Party led Coalition should make abolishing the Maori seats a priority now.
On the other hand, PM Luxon is legislating to introduce referendums for Maori local body seats. However, that may not come into effect until 2028, by which time we will have had another election. It may never happen.
Come 2026, I expect we will find ourselves largely empty handed. I suspect that National politicians have figured that unless Labour see the light and have a radical review, we will have nowhere else to go at the next election. National will get voted in again on further placatory contrivances so that by the following election in 2029, Aotearoa will be irrevocably a Maori ethno-state. And the delicious irony of it all is that we the people set it up by voting for MMP and allowing minor radical elements – such as the Mana Party and the Maori Party – to enter and influence New Zealand politics.....
breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com/2024/04/barrie-davis-there-will-always-be.html
A central tenet of a constitutional democracy is that “the vote of every voter has equal value” (Palmer, 2022, 12). But that is not the case when we have exclusive Maori seats in our parliament and councils. That is because Maori electorates have fewer voters than general seats (here) and much the same applies to Maori wards on councils (Ian Anderson, here), so a Maori vote has greater value. Academic lawyer Philip Joseph claims “The separate seats inflate Maori parliamentary representation … they are anachronistic, they institutionalise Maori separatism, they represent a form of reverse discrimination and they threaten to manipulate MMP electoral outcomes through ‘overhang’.” (here, p. 22, 21) We cannot claim to have a true democracy in New Zealand until the Maori seats are abolished. It has been National Party policy to abolish them, but for no good reason John Key deferred the policy until the Treaty of Waitangi settlements process is complete. We are now almost at that point and so the National Party led Coalition should make abolishing the Maori seats a priority now.
On the other hand, PM Luxon is legislating to introduce referendums for Maori local body seats. However, that may not come into effect until 2028, by which time we will have had another election. It may never happen.
Come 2026, I expect we will find ourselves largely empty handed. I suspect that National politicians have figured that unless Labour see the light and have a radical review, we will have nowhere else to go at the next election. National will get voted in again on further placatory contrivances so that by the following election in 2029, Aotearoa will be irrevocably a Maori ethno-state. And the delicious irony of it all is that we the people set it up by voting for MMP and allowing minor radical elements – such as the Mana Party and the Maori Party – to enter and influence New Zealand politics.....
breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com/2024/04/barrie-davis-there-will-always-be.html