Māori electorates

In New Zealand politics, Māori electorates, colloquially also called Māori seats, are a special category of electorate that gives reserved positions to representatives of Māori in the Parliament of New Zealand. Consequently, every area in New Zealand is covered by both a general and a Māori electorate.

Māori electorates were introduced in 1867 under the Maori Representation Act. The first Māori elections were held in the following year during the term of the 4th New Zealand Parliament. Though the Māori electorates were intended as a temporary measure and there have been numerous attempts to abolish them, they continue to form part of the New Zealand political landscape.

Organisation

Māori electorates operate much as do general electorates, but have as electors people who are Māori or of Māori descent, and who choose to place their names on the Māori electoral roll rather than on the "general roll". Māori and persons with Māori ancestry are not obliged to register on the Māori electoral roll.

Māori electoral boundaries are superimposed over the electoral boundaries used for general electorates; thus every part of New Zealand simultaneously belongs both in a general seat and in a Māori seat. Shortly after each census all registered Māori electors have the opportunity to choose whether they are included on the Māori or General electorate rolls. Each five-yearly Māori Electoral Option determines the number of Māori electorates for the next one or two elections.

Establishment

The establishment of Māori electorates came about in 1867 during the term of the 4th Parliament with the Māori Representation Act, drafted by Napier MP Donald McLean. Parliament passed the Act only after lengthy debate. Many conservative MPs, most of whom considered Māori "unfit" to participate in government, opposed Māori representation in Parliament, while some MPs from the other end of the spectrum (such as James FitzGerald, who had proposed allocating a third of Parliament to Māori) regarded the concessions given to Māori as insufficient. In the end the setting up of Māori electorates separate from existing electorates assuaged conservative opposition to the bill – conservatives had previously feared that Māori would gain the right to vote in general electorates, thereby forcing all MPs (rather than just four Māori MPs) to take notice of Māori opinion.

Before this law came into effect, no direct prohibition on Māori voting existed, but other indirect prohibitions made it extremely difficult for Māori to exercise their theoretical electoral rights. The most significant problem involved the property qualification – to vote, one needed to possess a certain value of land. Māori owned a great deal of land, but they held it in common, not under individual title, and under the law, only land held under individual title could count towards the property qualification. Donald McLean explicitly intended his bill as a temporary measure, giving specific representation to Māori until they adopted European customs of land ownership. However, the Māori electorates lasted far longer than the intended five years, and remain in place today, despite the property qualification for voting being removed in 1879.

The first four Māori members of parliament elected in 1868 were Tareha te Moananui (Eastern Maori), Frederick Nene Russell (Northern Maori) and John Patterson (Southern Maori), who all retired in 1870; and Mete Paetahi (Western Maori) who was defeated in 1871. The second four were Karaitiana Takamoana (Eastern Maori); Wi Katene (Northern Maori); Hori Kerei Taiaroa (Southern Maori); and Wiremu Parata (Western Maori).

The first Māori woman MP was Iriaka Ratana, who succeeded her late husband Matiu Ratana in 1949.

Elections

Elections for Māori electorates occur as part of New Zealand general elections but in the past such elections took place separately, occurring on different days (usually the day before the vote for general electorates) and having different rules. Historically, less organisation went into holding Māori elections than general elections, and the process received fewer resources. At first, Māori electorates did not even require registration for voting, although later rules changed this. New practices such as paper ballots (as opposed to casting one's vote verbally) and secret ballots also came later to elections for Māori electorates than to general electorates.

The authorities frequently delayed or overlooked reforms of the Māori electoral system, with Parliament considering the Māori electorates as largely unimportant. The gradual improvement of Māori elections owes much to long-serving Māori MP Eruera Tirikatene, who himself experienced problems in his own election. From the election of 1951 onwards, the voting for Māori and general electorates was held on the same day.

Calls for abolition

Periodically there have been calls for the abolition of the Maori seats. The electorates aroused controversy even at the time of their origin, and given their intended temporary nature, there were a number of attempts to abolish them. The reasoning behind these attempts has varied – some have seen the electorates as an unfair or unnecessary advantage for Māori, while others have seen them as discriminatory and offensive.

In 1902, a consolidation of electoral law prompted considerable discussion of the Māori electorates, and some MPs proposed their abolition. Many of the proposals came from members of the opposition, and possibly had political motivations – in general, the Māori MPs had supported the governing Liberal Party, which had held power since 1891. Many MPs alleged frequent cases of corruption in elections for the Māori electorates. Other MPs, however, supported the abolition of Māori electorates for different reasons – Frederick Pirani, a member of the Liberal Party, said that the absence of Māori voters from general electorates prevented "pākehā members of the House from taking that interest in Māori matters that they ought to take". The Māori MPs, however, mounted a strong defence of the electorates, with Wi Pere depicting guaranteed representation in Parliament as one of the few rights Māori possessed not "filched from them by the Europeans". The electorates continued in existence.

Just a short time later, in 1905, another re-arrangement of electoral law caused the debate to flare up again. The Minister of Māori Affairs, James Carroll, supported proposals for the abolition of Māori electorates, pointing to the fact that he himself had won the general electorate of Waiapu. Other Māori MPs, such as Hone Heke Ngapua, remained opposed, however. In the end, the proposals for the abolition or reform of Māori electorates did not proceed.

Considerably later, in 1953, the first ever major re-alignment of Māori electoral boundaries occurred, addressing inequalities in voter numbers. Again, the focus on Māori electorates prompted further debate about their existence. The government of the day, the National Party, had at the time a commitment to the assimilation of Māori, and had no Māori MPs, and so many believed that they would abolish the electorates. However, the government had other matters to attend to, and the issue of the Māori electorates gradually faded from view without any changes occurring. Regardless, the possible abolition of the Māori electorates appeared indicated when they did not appear among the electoral provisions "entrenched" against future modification.

In the 1950s the practice of reserving electorates for Māori was described by some politicians "as a form of 'apartheid', like in South Africa".

In 1976, Māori gained the right for the first time to decide on which electoral roll they preferred to enrol. Surprisingly, only 40% of the potential population registered on the Māori roll. This reduced the number of calls for the abolition of Māori electorates, as many presumed that Māori would eventually abandon the Māori electorates of their own accord.

When a Royal Commission proposed the adoption of the MMP electoral system in 1986, it also proposed that if the country adopted the new system, it should abolish the Māori electorates. The Commission argued that under MMP, all parties would have to pay attention to Māori voters, and that the existence of separate Māori electorates marginalised Māori concerns. Following a referendum, Parliament drafted an Electoral Reform Bill, incorporating the abolition of the Māori electorates. Both the National Party and Geoffrey Palmer, Labour's leading reformist, supported abolition; but most Māori strongly opposed it. Eventually, the provision did not become law. The Māori electorates came closer than ever to abolition, but survived.

The ACT Party and the National Party have each advocated abolition of the separate electorates. New Zealand First also advocates abolition of the separate electorates but says that the Māori voters should make the decision. The National Party announced in 2008 it would abolish the electorates when all historic Treaty settlements have been resolved, which it aims to complete by 2014. While it remains National Party policy to abolish the electorates, Prime Minister John Key ruled it out as recently as August 2014, saying he would not do it even if he had the numbers to do so as there would be "hikois from hell".

Number of electorates

From 1868 to 1996, four Māori electorates existed (out of a total that slowly changed from 76 to 99). They comprised:

1. Eastern Maori
2. Northern Maori
3. Southern Maori
4. Western Maori

With the introduction of the MMP electoral system after 1993, the rules regarding the Māori electorates changed. Today, the number of electorates floats, meaning that the electoral population of a Māori seat can remain roughly equivalent to that of a general seat. In the first MMP vote (the 1996 election), the Electoral Commission defined five Māori electorates:

1. Te Puku O Te Whenua (="The belly of the land")
2. Te Tai Hauauru (="The western district")
3. Te Tai Rawhiti (="The eastern district")
4. Te Tai Tokerau (="The northern district")
5. Te Tai Tonga (="The southern district")

For the second MMP election (the 1999 election), six Māori electorates existed:

1. Hauraki
2. Ikaroa-Rawhiti
3. Te Tai Hauāuru
4. Te Tai Tokerau
5. Te Tai Tonga
6. Waiariki

The 2002 and 2005 elections had seven:

1. Ikaroa-Rāwhiti
2. Tainui
3. Tāmaki Makaurau (roughly equivalent to greater Auckland)
4. Te Tai Hauāuru
5. Te Tai Tokerau
6. Te Tai Tonga
7. Waiariki

The 2008, 2011 and 2014 elections also had seven:

1. Hauraki-Waikato – (North Western North Island, includes Hamilton and Papakura)
2. Ikaroa-Rāwhiti – (East and South North Island, includes Gisborne and Masterton)
3. Tāmaki Makaurau – (Roughly equivalent to greater Auckland)
4. Te Tai Hauāuru – (Western North Island, includes Taranaki and Manawatu-Wanganui regions)
5. Te Tai Tokerau – (Northernmost seat, includes Whangarei and North and West Auckland)
6. Te Tai Tonga – (All of South Island and nearby islands. Largest electorate by area)
7. Waiariki – (Includes Tauranga, Whakatane, Rotorua, Taupo)

While seven out of 70 (10%) does not nearly reflect the proportion of New Zealanders who identify as being of Māori descent (about 18%), many Māori choose to enroll in general electorates, so the proportion reflects the proportion of voters on the Māori roll.

For maps showing broad electoral boundaries, see selected links to individual elections at New Zealand elections.

Māori Party co-leader Pita Sharples has proposed the creation of an additional electorate, for Māori living in Australia, where there are between 115,000 and 125,000 Māori, the majority living in Queensland.

Party politics

As Māori electorates originated before the development of political parties in New Zealand, all early Māori MPs functioned as independents. When the Liberal Party formed, however, Māori MPs began to align themselves with the new organisation, with either Liberal candidates or Liberal sympathisers as representatives. Māori MPs in the Liberal Party included James Carroll, Apirana Ngata and Te Rangi Hīroa. There were also Māori MPs in the more conservative and rural Reform Party; Maui Pomare, Taurekareka Henare and Taite Te Tomo.

Since the Labour Party first came to power in 1935, however, it has dominated the Māori electorates. For a long period this dominance owed much to Labour's alliance with the Ratana Church, although the Ratana influence has diminished in recent times. In the 1993 election, however, the new New Zealand First Party, led by the part-Māori Winston Peters – who himself held the general seat of Tauranga from 1984 to 2005 – gained the Northern Māori seat (electing Tau Henare to Parliament), and in the 1996 election New Zealand First captured all the Māori electorates for one electoral term. Labour regained the electorates in the following election in the 1999 election.

A development of particular interest to Māori came in 2004 with the resignation of Tariana Turia from her ministerial position in the Labour-dominated coalition and from her Te Tai Hauāuru parliamentary seat. In the resulting by-election on 10 July 2004, standing under the banner of the newly formed Māori Party, she received over 90% of the 7,000-plus votes cast. The parties then represented in Parliament had not put up official candidates in the by-election. The new party's support in relation to Labour therefore remained untested at the polling booth.

The Māori Party aimed to win all seven Māori electorates in 2005. A Marae-Digipoll survey of Māori-rollvoters in November 2004 gave it hope: 35.7% said they would vote for a Māori Party candidate, 26.3% opted for Labour, and five of the seven electorates appeared ready to fall to the new party. In the election, the new party won four of the Māori electorates. It seemed possible that Māori Party MPs could play a role in the choice and formation of a governing coalition, and they (surprisingly) conducted talks with the National Party. In the end they remained in Opposition.

Similarly in 2008, the Māori Party aimed to win all seven Māori electorates. However, in the election, they managed to increase their four electorates only to five. Although the National government had enough MPs to govern without the Māori Party, it invited the Māori Party to support their minority government on confidence and supply in return for policy concessions and two ministerial posts outside of Cabinet. The Māori Party signed a confidence and supply agreement with National on the condition that the Māori electorates were not abolished unless the Māori voters agreed to abolish them.

See also

• New Zealand elections
• Māori politics