Summarised by Centrist

Dr Muriel Newman criticises the Māori Party for radicalising Māori voters and pursuing an agenda that undermines democracy. “The Māori Party’s response to ACT’s Treaty principles bill has been based on deception,” she writes.

She argues that the Māori Party know the bill will be defeated at the next vote making their “Kill the bill” cry absurd. 

“Let’s be very clear: the Māori Party’s agenda is to incite hatred against the Coalition and anyone who dares to stand in their way – as they build support to take control of Parliament through a dramatic increase in the number of Māori seats,” she writes.

She advocates for abolishing Māori seats, which she argues have been “weaponised”, citing recommendations from the Royal Commission on the Electoral System and urges a binding referendum on their future.

Newman argues that historically Māori seats were intended as a temporary measure before universal suffrage, and their continued existence has led to overrepresentation in Parliament. She says Māori MPs now occupy 27% of seats despite comprising only 14% of the voting-age population. Note  the exact percentage of  Maori who are of voting age is not easily determined.

Newman argues this imbalance fosters separatism, exacerbated by taxpayer-funded immersion schools promoting self-determination.

According to Newman, New Zealand First offers an alternative:  “Conduct a comprehensive review of all legislation (except Treaty settlements) that includes ‘The Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi’ and replace all such references with specific words relating to the relevance and application of the Treaty, or repeal the references.”

Read more over at NZCPR

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