In brief 

• Leftist parties frequently say National and ACT are racists. 
• Elizabeth Kerekere accuses her former party, the leftist Greens, of racism. 
• Labour defector, Meka Whaitiri, says she was “censored” for being a Māori woman (ie. racism). 
• It seems racism is very inclusive.

The Greens, Te Pāti Māori and Labour call Luxon racist

The National Party leader Christopher Luxon reaffirmed National’s commitment to a democratic system premised on “one person, one vote” thereby ruling out  joining with Te Pāti Māori to form the next government. 

While TPM co-leader Rawiri Waititi dismissed Luxon’s comments he confirmed the “radical” agenda by stating his party’s commitment to “a constitutional transformation that’s rooted in te Tiriti o Aotearoa”.   

Luxon’s announcement came after he recently described Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori as a “coalition of chaos” aligned in one bloc. True to form, that bloc came together behind Rawiri’s reaction that Luxon was “dog whistling” racism.

“Dog-whistling” in politics is the use of coded or suggestive messaging designed to garner support from a particular group without provoking opposition. It’s a term almost exclusively levelled at right leaning groups by the left whom they imagine are being racist without explicitly saying so. 

Besides Rawiri, Green co-leader Marama Davidson said Luxon’s comments are “lazy dog-whistling racism”.

Labour’s deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni also agreed “Oh yeah, that is totally dog whistling.”

Kerekere calls the Greens racist, Greens call ACT racist

However, not just National are accused of racism. List MP Elizabeth Kerekere, who quit the Greens and now sits as an independent, called her former party racist.  

“There is definitely a racism problem in the Greens.” she said. 

Green co-leader Marama Davidson was ejected from Parliament for heckling ACT MP Nicole McKee during a debate over building more prison beds. Davidson said McKee was asking “racist and stupid questions”. 

Whaitiri effectively calls Labour racist

Recent Labour defector Meka Whaitiri has pulled the race card in the past and describes joining Te Pāti Māori as an “emancipation”, “liberating”, and “freedom”. 

Could the freed-slave rhetoric including allegations that she was “shackled” and “censored” for being a Māori woman be described as dog-whistling accusations of racism against the Labour Party?  

Are any of the accused actually racist by any objective measure? 

Could cries of racism just be a slur against those that disagree with the accuser’s political views? Kerekere has been accused of this in the past. In the case of Whaitiri, the evidence points to self interest rather than having been pushed out due to any discrimination. And of Te Pāti Māori, Political commentator Bryce Edwards says their “co-leaders are inclined to level allegations of racism and race to make their point.”

Perhaps the accusers are actually racist themselves?

Davidson has recently caught flak for accusing biological white males as being responsible for “ the violence in the world”. Rawiri Waititi was called out for celebrating the death of Captain Cook for which he had to apologise.  

It would be nice to have less childish name calling and more substantive discussion.