Category: Democracy
In the lead up to the 2014 General Election, a number of political parties were proposing changes to New Zealand’s constitutional arrangements. Many wanted to strengthen race-based rights and elevate them above the rights of other citizens.
What an extraordinary election! On Saturday, Prime Minister John Key's National Party won the election with 1,010,464 votes, giving him enough seats to govern alone - something that many people thought was virtually impossible under MMP.
The votes are in. While politicians spin the results, the numbers tell the story. So who won? Who lost? And why? National is celebrating an historic victory; Labour has the knives out for David Cunliffe; and Hone Harawira is still in a state of shock.
There are many issues of crucial importance to voters in election campaigns - particularly whether parties have the capability to manage the economy effectively. However, there is one matter that doesn’t rank highly in the polls, but is of such deep concern that it goes to the heart of who we are as New Zealanders - the issue of racial privilege and the Maori seats.
One of the most disturbing comments made by any politician in the election campaign so far was the comment by John Key when he said that, though abolition of separate Maori electorates is National Party policy, he had no plan to abolish them because such a move would provoke “hikois from hell”.
Dirty politics from the Left during the current New Zealand general election campaign obscures policy at a time when the issue of wealth or poverty and how to get there should be critical.
There is no doubt that the concept of citizens’ democracy is a powerful one. It is, after all, attributed with building Switzerland into a successful and prosperous nation. But the question that advocates should be asking right now is whether the policy of binding referenda is feasible within New Zealand’s constitutional framework?
The trouble with referendums is they inevitably must focus on single or particular issues, or specific aspects of issues, and don’t, and can’t, in their “yes or no” message, weigh the issues adequately in the wider context of society’s broad present welfare, or likely future needs.
Official data shows that the biggest foreign investor in New Zealand land during the five years from 2009 to 2013 was the US, followed by Canada, Israel, the UK, Australia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Monaco, with China in tenth place.
It is a fundamental tenant of democracy that all citizens should be treated equally in law. We believe that should start with the removal of race-based seats and electoral rolls. We would like to reach out to as many other New Zealanders as we can with that message, and we are asking for your help.
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