Post by Kiwi Frontline on Jul 23, 2017 5:52:27 GMT 12
MAJOR ELECTION POLICIES ANNOUNCED
The second important policy launched last weekend was the announcement by Winston Peters, at New Zealand First’s Convention, that a binding referendum of all voters to retain or abolish the Maori seats would be a bottom line policy for the party.
The Maori seats, of course, were created by Parliament in 1867 as a temporary measure to ensure that Maori men who owned communal land were able to vote, since they didn’t qualify under the prevailing private property requirements of the time. The introduction of universal suffrage in 1893 should have signalled the end of the Maori seats, but instead, they were retained.
In 1986 the Royal Commission on the Electoral System closely examined the Maori seats, concluding that race-based representationwas not only creating an “undesirable degree of division” within New Zealand society, but that it was at the heart of growing Maori disadvantage.
The Commission recommended that if MMP was introduced as a new electoral system, the Maori seats should be abolished to avoid an undemocratic over-representation of Maori in Parliament – as more Maori entered Parliament through list seats.
The Royal Commission has been proved right on all counts.
The Maori seats have not only led to an increase in racial division, but the disadvantage remains as well.
The predicted over-representation of Maori in Parliament has also occurred. At the 2014 election 21 percent of all MPs elected were of Maori descent, compared to 15 percent of the overall population.
Abolishing the 7 Maori seats would restore proportionality.
And on the issue of proportionality, in 2010 – in response to a proposal by the Maori Party to increase Maori representation in local government – the Attorney General ruled that such a measure would be discriminatory, since, “In a representative democracy, it is important to maintain approximately the same level of representation for everyone”.
Using that reasoning, retaining the Maori seats under an MMP electoral system is creating a disproportionately higher representation of Maori MPs in Parliament, thereby discriminating against all non-Maori New Zealanders.
In his conference speech last weekend, Winston Peters outlined why abolishing the Maori seats was a bottom line issue for the party: “Today, as we look at the state of Maoridom, we see the four things Maori want: a safe affordable home, an easily accessible health system, an education system with escalators onto which any child can step and go as far as they wish, and First World jobs and incomes.
“These are four things many Maori want, yet haven’t got. The reason, in short, is the burgeoning treaty industry that Parliament has become – the preoccupation of an elite group of Maori, at the expense of the great majority of Maori.”
He explained that the Maori seats send the terrible message to young Maori, that they are to be handicapped and pigeon-holed through ‘tokenism’, when they should be good enough to be equal.
He then said, “I am therefore announcing today that the next government we belong to will offer a binding referendum mid-term to do two things:
“Retain or Abolish the Maori seats.
“And there will be second referendum on the same day and that will be to Maintain or Reduce the size of Parliament to 100 MPs.”
Unfortunately the announcement was contradicted by members of the New Zealand First caucus. Maori Affairs spokesman Pita Paraone is reported as saying that any referendum on the future of the Maori seats should be decided by voters on the Maori roll: “I’d like to see that it’s left to Maori voters to make that decision”.
This followed earlier comments by the new Whangarei candidate, Shane Jones in support of Maori seats.
Although, both eventually agreed to abide by the caucus decision, what should have been a very clear and powerful policy announcement was undermined by seemingly contradictory and muddled comments from within the party.
Winston Peters appears to have now clarified the matter by restating that the position of New Zealand First is that retaining or abolishing the Maori seats is a constitutional issue, and as such, it must be decided through a binding referendum of all New Zealand voters.
Following New Zealand First’s announcement of the binding referendum on the Maori seats, TVNZ news said Labour leader Andrew Little “will not agree with the proposals if the parties are to go into coalition after the September general election”. This comes as no surprise given Labour holds all but one of the Maori seats.
Since Winston Peters claims the referendum is a “bottom line” policy for New Zealand First, if they are to be believed, we cannot expect them to form a coalition government with Labour.
In response to Winston Peters’ referendum announcement, National’s Stephen Joyce said abolishing the Maori seats was something their Party had been considering and that they expected to clarify their policy in a month or so........
Read Dr Muriel Newman’s latest NZCPR full newsletter on the Green’s Welfare policy and NZFirst’s Referendum policies here > www.nzcpr.com/major-election-policies-announced/#more-23732
The second important policy launched last weekend was the announcement by Winston Peters, at New Zealand First’s Convention, that a binding referendum of all voters to retain or abolish the Maori seats would be a bottom line policy for the party.
The Maori seats, of course, were created by Parliament in 1867 as a temporary measure to ensure that Maori men who owned communal land were able to vote, since they didn’t qualify under the prevailing private property requirements of the time. The introduction of universal suffrage in 1893 should have signalled the end of the Maori seats, but instead, they were retained.
In 1986 the Royal Commission on the Electoral System closely examined the Maori seats, concluding that race-based representationwas not only creating an “undesirable degree of division” within New Zealand society, but that it was at the heart of growing Maori disadvantage.
The Commission recommended that if MMP was introduced as a new electoral system, the Maori seats should be abolished to avoid an undemocratic over-representation of Maori in Parliament – as more Maori entered Parliament through list seats.
The Royal Commission has been proved right on all counts.
The Maori seats have not only led to an increase in racial division, but the disadvantage remains as well.
The predicted over-representation of Maori in Parliament has also occurred. At the 2014 election 21 percent of all MPs elected were of Maori descent, compared to 15 percent of the overall population.
Abolishing the 7 Maori seats would restore proportionality.
And on the issue of proportionality, in 2010 – in response to a proposal by the Maori Party to increase Maori representation in local government – the Attorney General ruled that such a measure would be discriminatory, since, “In a representative democracy, it is important to maintain approximately the same level of representation for everyone”.
Using that reasoning, retaining the Maori seats under an MMP electoral system is creating a disproportionately higher representation of Maori MPs in Parliament, thereby discriminating against all non-Maori New Zealanders.
In his conference speech last weekend, Winston Peters outlined why abolishing the Maori seats was a bottom line issue for the party: “Today, as we look at the state of Maoridom, we see the four things Maori want: a safe affordable home, an easily accessible health system, an education system with escalators onto which any child can step and go as far as they wish, and First World jobs and incomes.
“These are four things many Maori want, yet haven’t got. The reason, in short, is the burgeoning treaty industry that Parliament has become – the preoccupation of an elite group of Maori, at the expense of the great majority of Maori.”
He explained that the Maori seats send the terrible message to young Maori, that they are to be handicapped and pigeon-holed through ‘tokenism’, when they should be good enough to be equal.
He then said, “I am therefore announcing today that the next government we belong to will offer a binding referendum mid-term to do two things:
“Retain or Abolish the Maori seats.
“And there will be second referendum on the same day and that will be to Maintain or Reduce the size of Parliament to 100 MPs.”
Unfortunately the announcement was contradicted by members of the New Zealand First caucus. Maori Affairs spokesman Pita Paraone is reported as saying that any referendum on the future of the Maori seats should be decided by voters on the Maori roll: “I’d like to see that it’s left to Maori voters to make that decision”.
This followed earlier comments by the new Whangarei candidate, Shane Jones in support of Maori seats.
Although, both eventually agreed to abide by the caucus decision, what should have been a very clear and powerful policy announcement was undermined by seemingly contradictory and muddled comments from within the party.
Winston Peters appears to have now clarified the matter by restating that the position of New Zealand First is that retaining or abolishing the Maori seats is a constitutional issue, and as such, it must be decided through a binding referendum of all New Zealand voters.
Following New Zealand First’s announcement of the binding referendum on the Maori seats, TVNZ news said Labour leader Andrew Little “will not agree with the proposals if the parties are to go into coalition after the September general election”. This comes as no surprise given Labour holds all but one of the Maori seats.
Since Winston Peters claims the referendum is a “bottom line” policy for New Zealand First, if they are to be believed, we cannot expect them to form a coalition government with Labour.
In response to Winston Peters’ referendum announcement, National’s Stephen Joyce said abolishing the Maori seats was something their Party had been considering and that they expected to clarify their policy in a month or so........
Read Dr Muriel Newman’s latest NZCPR full newsletter on the Green’s Welfare policy and NZFirst’s Referendum policies here > www.nzcpr.com/major-election-policies-announced/#more-23732