NZCPR Weekly - The Future of the Maori Seats
This week, NZCPR Weekly examines a new report on future of the Maori seats in Parliament, NZCPR Guest David Round,
author of "Truth or Treaty?" shares his views on the report and Maori seats, and the poll asks whether you are concerned
that the Maori seats are now causing an over-representation of Maori in Parliament.
According to last week's Christchurch Press, a 35kg greenstone pounamu travelled first class to China, accompanied by
two members of Ngai Tahu, as part of a sister city exchange with the Christchurch City Council. In their editorial the
Press describes the whole event as a farce, "Its journey from Fiordland to Wuhan provides the basis for a novel of the
absurd, in which the voyage is preposterous, the characters pretentious and the implications portentous".
They explain that the stone had to fly first class because Ngai Tahu claimed it was "culturally insensitive to put it in
the hold". Ngai Tahu further insisted that because the stone was "imbued with the spiritual force of the tribe" it had
to be accompanied on the journey by two members of the iwi.
The point made by the Press was that, "however serious the claims by Ngai Tahu about the boulder's spirituality they are
not supported by the large majority of Christchurch citizens, in whose name the gift was being made. A mayor in tune
with his citizens would not have associated them with such hocus-pocus, let Ngai Tahu pay for the exercise of its
religious beliefs and had the rock presented with typical Kiwi restraint".1
This is not the first time that Maori spiritual beliefs have been imposed on the wider community. We saw it in the case
of a taniwha that held up the construction of State highway One near Mercer a few years ago. What we leant from that -
and similar occurrences from around the country - is that taniwhas can be appeased . if the price is right.
These matters are symptomatic of the wider problem New Zealand faces as a consequence of race-based features, such as
special consultation rights for Maori and the ill-defined principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, having been inserted
into legislation. And even though the Maori elite may argue for their fanciful claims under a Treaty of Waitangi
catch-all, the Monty Python absurdity of a stone flying first class around the world demonstrates the folly of this
course of action.
The fact is that the Treaty of Waitangi has commendable brevity, and to minds that are not inclined to imagining
mythical monsters and spiritual stones, a very clear intent. Sir Apirana Ngata, in his classic 1922 book The Treaty of
Waitangi, explained that while Article One transferred the authority of the Maori Chiefs to the Queen of England, and
Article Two created private property rights, Article Three extended to all citizens the Crown's protection, stating that
"Maori and Pakeha are equal before the Law, that is, they are to share the rights and privileges of British subjects".
In other words, under Article Three of the Treaty, Maori enjoy the same rights as all other citizens - not greater
rights, nor lesser rights. (See Sir Apirana Ngata, The Treaty of Waitangi - http://www.nzcpr.com/support.htm
In an important new report, "The Maori Seats in Parliament", Professor Philip A Joseph examines whether the argument
that has been pushed by the Maori elite, that separate Maori representation, is a Treaty right, holds weight. He
concludes that "No one - Maori or non-Maori - may claim preferential electoral rights under the Treaty. Both Maori and
Pakeha are signatory parties to the Treaty but neither may assert superior political rights under it. Liberal
democracies espouse the elemental principle of 'one person, one vote, one value' and rail against electoral privilege
based on racial or ethnic distinction".
In his report, Professor Joseph outlines the history of the Maori seats from 1867 to the present day. He explains how
four Maori seats were first created for a five year period to give Maori men who didn't meet the standard individual
property-ownership qualification the right to vote. He traces their path from being a temporary measure to becoming a
permanent fixture in our electoral system.
In particular, he reminds us that the Royal Commission on the Electoral System recommended strongly against separate
Maori representation under MMP: "There would be no separate Maori constituency or list seats, no Maori roll, and no
Maori option". The Commission believed that the party-list system would promote ethnic diversity within parliament with
more Maori gaining seats in the House.
That, of course has come to pass. With four MMP elections now under our belts, Maori representation has continued to
grow to the point where 22 Members of Maori descent were elected to the present Parliament in 2005, up from 19 Maori MPs
elected in 2002. This means that although Maori make up only 14 percent of the population, they now hold 19 percent of
the total membership of parliament. This has risen from 15.8 percent in 2002.
This over-representation of Maori MPs looks set to be further increased by the parliamentary 'overhang', which occurs
when a party wins more electorate seats than their party vote entitles them to. That situation occurred at the last
election when the Maori Party gained 2.1 percent of the party vote, which entitled them to 3 Members of Parliament, but
won four Maori seats. That meant that the Maori Party created an overhang of one additional seat, giving us 121 MPs in
the present Parliament, instead of 120.
A more spectacular overhang is certainly on the cards for the 2008 election, as Professor Joseph explains:
"Commentators speculate that the Maori Party might win all of the seven Maori seats without increasing its share of the
party vote. An 'overhang' of four members would reconfigure the mathematical computations that bear on the processes of
government formation during post-election party negotiations. The number of confidence votes needed to form a government
would increase from 61 to 63. A party that garnered 50 percent or more of the popular vote but could not govern would
represent an undemocratic outcome and would indubitably arouse deep resentment. Even without that scenario, the inflated
representation of the Maori Party through 'overhang' would give the party disproportionate leverage in coalition talks.
The influence of the minor parties on the configuration of government has been a recurring criticism of the MMP system.
Questions are asked why a minor party, which many see as representing 'cause' or 'fringe' elements of the polity, should
be allowed to determine the make-up of government. The distortion that 'overhang' would produce through Maori Party
representation would sorely reinforce that criticism".
In fact, Professor Joseph warns that when the percentage of Maori members holding list or constituency seats in
parliament exceed the relative national proportion of Maori - a situation likely to happen in the 2008 election - then
"the Maori seats will represent a form of reverse discrimination based on ethnicity".2
I asked David round, the author of the book "Truth or Treaty - commonsense questions about the Treaty of Waitangi", and
a lecturer in law at the University of Canterbury, to provide this week's NZCPR commentary on the Maori seat report.
David describes the report's four central propositions as follows:
"Separate seats are now unnecessary to secure effective Maori representation. The seats entrench a form of historical
paternalism which removes Maori issues from the mainstream political agenda. They are a form of racial discrimination,
no less so for being 'reverse discrimination'. Under the MMP system they invite the phenomenon of 'overhang', which has
already appeared and seems likely to become more pronounced after this year's election; they thus give a Maori party
holding those seats an utterly disproportionate over-representation in Parliament".
He goes on to comment:
"Ample evidence supports these arguments. As noted above, most political parties now have Maori MPs, and Maori thereby
already enjoy satisfactory representation in Parliament without the assistance of specially allocated seats. The long
captivity of those seats in the Labour Party meant that other parties felt little obligation to consider Maori issues,
and the Labour Party itself took the Maori vote for granted. In the absence of any compelling justification, both common
justice and common law (Professor Joseph refers to opinions of the Privy Council, United States Supreme Court and High
Court of Australia) consider any racial discrimination unacceptable, and the defenders of Maori seats have been unable -
or, at the very least, so far unwilling - to provide justifications for what is prima facie discrimination". To read
David's paper, click the sidebar link>>>
While the abolition of the Maori seats has always been a fraught issue, the new evidence that is emerging shows that
this is a decision that should not be delayed. With each new MMP election, Maori representation looks likely to continue
to rise. That means that not only will the overhang in Parliament continue to be a major problem, but the
over-representation of Maori in Parliament, causing reverse discrimination, is set to become a major political issue in
New Zealand.
The National Party have stated that they want to tie the abolition of the Maori seats to the end of the Treaty
settlement process which they expect to be in 2014. But, apart from the fact that it is difficult to find a connection
between the two issues, 2014 may well be too late to avoid the inevitable backlash and splintering of race relations
that will invariably be caused by the increasing over-representation of Maori in Parliament. That is why this is not an
issue that can be shelved, but one that requires real leadership now.
If you are concerned about these issues, I urge you to not only read both Professor Joseph's report and David Round's
excellent article, but to forward this newsletter on to others who share your concerns. I will leave the last word to
David:
"Already certain new ethnic groups are beginning to resent the 'privileged' position of Maori, and use it to argue, not
that special Maori positions should be done away with, but that these new cultural and racial enclaves should also be
somehow recognised as distinct communities. The Maori seats are being used as part of the model for a Balkanised future.
For that reason, too, it is high time, then, they were done away with".
NZCPR POLL This week's poll asks: Are you are concerned that the Maori seats are now causing an over-representation of
Maori in the New Zealand Parliament? http://www.nzcpr.com
ENDS