“As long as I have any choice in the matter, I shall live only in a country where civil liberty, tolerance, and equality of all citizens before the law prevail.”
Those were the words of Albert Einstein, who fled Nazi Germany in 1933 to live in the United States.
How many of the record 55,000 Kiwis who have “fled” New Zealand over the last few months, have left to escape the racism that is now dividing our country?
Using the “by Maori, for Maori” banner and the slogan “what’s good for Maori is good for the country”, the iwi elite have been extraordinarily successful in persuading successive governments to progress their separatist agenda.
Their tribal takeover is not limited to delivering social services – many of the country’s institutions have been ‘captured’ including much of the mainstream media, some of highest echelons of the Judiciary, the vast majority of our universities, and most State Sector agencies.
The new Government’s attempt to push-back against this widespread racism was recently on display when Cabinet agreed to remove proposed Treaty provisions, that would have given Maori prisoners cultural privileges not available to others, from the former Labour Government’s Corrections Amendment Bill.
Since the Minister justified the move on the basis that measures are already in place to support ‘Maori’ prisoners, it is clear that ridding the system of racial privilege is going to be a massive job.
Over the last few weeks, the scandal over the Maori Party’s alleged misuse of private Census and vaccination data for political purposes highlights the danger to government agencies of prioritising Maori rights over those of other New Zealanders.
The accusations, which include the use of inducements to pressure families into not only completing Census forms, but also registering on the Maori Electoral Roll – and voting for the Maori Party – have hit right into the heart of our voting system.
While multiple inquiries have now been launched, the problems are systemic and warrant a deeper investigation into the politicisation of data that’s used to influence the outcome of elections.
The Prime Minister appears to agree, saying the allegations “go to the heart of trust and confidence in our democratic processes and institutions. It is critical that New Zealanders can trust that when their personal information is given to government agencies, it is held securely and used only for proper purposes.”
He wants reassurance that government agencies are not only managing data appropriately but are “managing conflicts, real or perceived, in the right way”.
And he wants to rebuild public confidence: “There must be independent oversight of the whole picture of government agency activity. Agencies shouldn’t be left to review these allegations themselves.”
He’s right. This scandal reinforces growing concerns over the iwi leaders’ capture of public institutions under the Hipkins-Ardern Labour Government. Given most, if not all, of the agencies caught up in the Maori Party scandal are compromised through partnership arrangements with iwi leaders, there are real concerns that decisions are no longer being made in the public interest, but in the best interests of iwi.
Even the Electoral Commission, which is at the centre of allegations that they received complaints about questionable activities of the Maori Party before the election and did nothing, have embedded an iwi framework, when one would have thought that of all government agencies, the one running our elections should have stood fiercely independent and resisted all attempts at politicisation.
Similarly with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, which, although “independent” of government and expected to “act in a politically neutral manner”, ‘partners’ with Maori and is “embedding Te Ao Maori perspectives into our work.”
How can New Zealanders have any trust in the Public Sector when their underlying objective is to promote the agenda of iwi leaders – including their bogus demands to occupy privileged positions around governance tables.
Statistics New Zealand, the gatekeeper of government data, has gone even further down this track. In 2019 they established a co-governance agreement with iwi leaders to “co-create and co-develop data design across the public sector” – and to ensure “Key data gaps for Maori are identified and resolved in partnership with Maori.”
The Iwi Chairs Forum had embarked on their path to control data in 2016, when they established a Data Iwi Leaders Group. Their aim is Data Sovereignty, an initiative of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: “Tribal communities must not only dictate the content of data collected about them, they must also have the power to determine who has access to these data”.
The motive of iwi leaders is obvious: Data is power – ‘control the data and control the narrative’.
When Labour became Government in 2017, the iwi objective of control of Maori data was prioritised: “Maori shall decide which Maori data shall be controlled (tapu) or open (noa) access.”
Arrangements with the Ministry of Education for Maori student data were established in 2019. And through the Maori Descent and Iwi Affiliation Data Protocols, the Ministry of Health progressed iwi ambitions: “The collection, sharing, access to and use of iwi affiliation data is managed by the Ministry of Health. In the spirit of partnership, the aim is to transfer governance and management of the system to Maori.”
A poor response to the 2018 Census, which had resulted in a delay in the release of Maori statistics, led to Stats NZ engaging with the Iwi Leaders’ Data Group in 2019 to reconstruct the Maori data.
Maori data has undergone major manipulation over the years through legislative and administrative changes that have significantly benefited tribal activists.
Prime amongst those was the way in which being a ‘Maori’ was defined.
The 1953 Maori Affairs Act defined Maori as having half or more Maori blood. However, concerns of tribal leaders about declining numbers, led to a change in the 1974 Maori Affairs Amendment Act to ‘self-identification’. The ‘Are you a Maori’ test became: “Maori means a person of the Maori race of New Zealand and includes any descendant of such a person”.
Before the law change, the 1971 Census had the number of Maori at 289,887, up 40,000 from the census before. As a result of self-identification, the 1976 Census numbers increased 66,000 and have continued to rise ever since.
Nowadays the Census not only reports on cultural identity, asking respondents to select the ethnic group or groups with which they identify, it also asks whether they are of Maori descent by having a Maori ancestor – no matter how remote. Those that disclose even the faintest trace of Maori ancestry are categorised as Maori and asked to identify their iwi.
This data is significant. While the response to the ethnicity question is usually used for population statistics, the response to the descent question is not only used to justify increasing influence and more government funding, but it determines the number of Maori seats in Parliament.
Until 1996 the number of Maori seats – a relic from the early days of Parliament when most people couldn’t vote – was set at four. However, with the advent of MMP, electoral seat calculations were based on Maori descent data from the Census, along with the results of a Maori Electoral Option, where voters could choose the General Roll or the Maori Roll.
As a result of these changes, the number of Maori seats increased to five in 1996, six in 1999, and seven from 2001.
In an article outlining how the Maori seats are calculated, electoral law expert Graeme Edgeler explained that an administrative change to the way Maori descent data was calculated in 1997, resulted in an unexpected increase in the number of Maori seats:
“The Government Statistician decided he’d do things differently. The change wasn’t preceded by an amendment to the Electoral Act, or the Statistics Act, but was simply something he decided would be sensible. This process of ‘imputing’ Maori descent to people who give unclear answers to the census question increases the number of Maori seats. The change in approach was the reason there were seven Maori seats in 2001, instead of the six we would otherwise have had for the last fifteen years.”
As a result of imputing, if someone doesn’t provide a clear answer to the Maori descent question in the Census, their answer is administratively re-assessed. That first year of imputing led to an increase in the Maori descent population in the final 1996 Census result of 48,000. In the 2001 Census, the increase was 66,000, and in 2006 it was 77,000.
If we fast forward to the 2023 Census, we find the re-assessment process has become more sophisticated. Not only is imputation still used, but so too is data matching using government databases, and, as a result of the partnership Stats NZ established with iwi leaders, iwi records.
The result is a significant increase in the number of Maori: while 723,051 respondents indicated Maori descent in the Census, after re-assessment a further 255,195 were added, leading to a total of 978,246 and the claim that almost a million New Zealanders are Maori.
All of this raises serious ethical questions for the new Government.
Should iwi leaders be involved in the collection and analysis of personal data when they have a significant vested interest in the outcome of the Census?
Should Stats NZ have even formed a partnership with iwi, let alone given them access to Census data?
Should iwi have been involved in delivering Census forms and helping people to fill them in, when the results have a direct bearing on the number of Maori seats?
Should Stats NZ have contracted Whanau Ora to deliver the Census, when the Chief Executive, John Tamihere, is the President of the Maori Party?
The answer to these questions is surely ‘No’.
There is now a huge question mark overhanging the reliability of Census and electoral data, with concerns the process has been manipulated for political purposes.
Iwi should not be anywhere near Stats NZ. Their co-governance arrangement should be discontinued immediately – as should all co-governance arrangements and partnerships in the wider State sector.
Having robust and reliable data is critical given the significant benefits that accrue from the numbers. The make-up of our Parliament depends on it.
That of course leads into the bigger question about the relevance of the Maori seats. That question is even more important when the data used to determine the number of race-based seats is tainted.
This week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator, the former Judge and Law Lecturer Anthony Willy, thinks it’s time for a referendum on the future of the Maori seats – and he reminds us that their abolition was recommended by the 1986 Royal Commission on the Electoral System if MMP was introduced:
“The recommendations of the Commission were implemented by referendum conducted in 1993, but the Maori seats were left in place.
“Currently there are seven Maori electorates in Parliament. Six are held by persons claiming Maori ethnicity and who belong to the ‘Maori Party.’ Notwithstanding widespread calls for the abolition of the Maori seats no member of the coalition has shown any inclination to table legislation to that effect.”
Anthony Willy believes, “There is no better time for the Coalition to call for a public referendum on the continuation or repeal of the Maori seats.”
And he’s right.
The Maori seats have been politicised and manipulated beyond recognition. And given the serious over-representation of Maori in Parliament they now deliver, it’s time they were removed.
New Zealanders have never been asked whether we want our country divided by race.
Do we really want to live in a society where different rights exist for different racial groups – or would we prefer to live in a country “where civil liberty, tolerance, and equality of all citizens before the law prevail?”
If the latter is the case, then New Zealanders deserve to be asked whether the race-based cancer infecting the heart of our democracy should be removed.
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THIS WEEK’S POLL ASKS:
*Should the Coalition call for a public referendum on the continuation or repeal of the Maori seats?
*Poll comments are posted below.
*All NZCPR poll results can be seen in the Archive.
THIS WEEK’S POLL COMMENTS
| Yes of course they should go, only continued governments in this country don’t have the guts to get rid of them. Oh by the way, Once read that up to 40% of all New Zealand erst were socialists, l believe it’s more like 60% to be quite honest. | Paul |
| They do not have the balls for it as they will not like the answer. We are one country and all equal regardless of race. Grow up people and look at the big picture before this country is totally destroyed. | rod |
| Yes, if that is the AUTHORITY ! | Pierre |
| These seats are no longer relevant, | mary |
| I’ve often wondered how much of this overwhelming and overreaching Maorification comes to us from the basis of fraudulent utterances, fraudulent history and general downright fraudulent behavior etc. If so then these situations need to be called out as with those individuals who participated in any of this type of proven fraudulent activity. Those individuals involved would of course be frauds and they themselves should also be called out. This sounds liked a good exercise for the likes of One NZ and other like groups. If there is going to be any future for New Zealand to be a proper Western styled democracy then the rhetoric of attack needs to double down to be more muscular and forthright in the same fashion that our NZ common democracy is under attack. If we must, then we need to fight fire with fire. So be it! | Garry. |
| Let the people have their say. After all “freedom of expression” is a right guaranteed under the NZ Bill of Rights. The vast majority of sensible, fair minded and democratic New Zealanders want Maori seats repealed, and, that this happen under urgency. | Lianne |
| Most definitely! | Ann |
| Absolutely YES but also include scrapping the waitangi tribunal and repeal the Foreshore and Seabed rubbish. There are quite a few more needing to be sorted but the above 3 will be a good start. I doubt very much my wishes will be granted as long as te reo luxon is in charge. Lets face it this govt don`t even have the balls to order that racist from the moari tea party to remove his hat when in parliament. I`d like to see him try wearing his hat in the local R.S.A. So it seems to me the answer is to oust luxon at the next election and install a co-alition of ACT / NZ FIRST. This racist crap must be stopped SAP. Racist maori are a handbrake as far as enabling this country to haul itself out of the poo,by costing too much in both time and money. There are still too many average Kiwis of all races who still do not realise what has been going on and is still going on. From my own personal experience way too many have not heard of he puapua for example. WAKE UP GUYS. | Brian |
| While the Maori Seats are an anachronism and they should have been abolished a very long time ago, it is far to inflammatory to do this at this time. The Maori Party, given their increasingly rascist rhetoric, are increasingly making themselves irrelevant, and ultimately powerless in Parliament. | Phil |
| As per recommendations of the Committee when MMP was being established and the Referendum held in 1993, it is time for the Maori seats to be abolished | Sylvia |
| The percentage of maori in parliament far exceeds their actual percentage of total population.The seats must go | Doug |
| Well overdue | Dapne |
| I understand that the electoral commission advised that Maori seats would produce an overhang in parliament resulting in a disproportianate balance in favour of Maori seats ,when MMP was introduced, He recommended the abolition of Maori seats to bring the balance back to a fairer equtiy of representation. Maori have connived to increase their numbers at the electoral box by fair means or foul and has been subjected to investigation for irregular counting of Maori ethnicity at the last election | terrence |
| That’s a good idea but a better one would be for the government just to abolish them without even having a referendum | Chris |
| wipe out Maori seats now! | gerard |
| unfortunately the risk adverse Nats will duck this unless huge pressure put on them via the polls | Mike |
| The stable door has been opened and the horse has bolted. Labour’s ideology has released the “genie from the bottle” and it is going to be a hard slog to get it back. It will take courage and a strong resolve but I wonder if National has the balls to do it. | Kerry |
| Debate on the Repeal of Maori seats and is urgent. | Anne |
| Democracy depends upon a referendum | Keith |
| YES NOW. I and all NZrs now know how maori went from 15% to 20% of the population. Census is no longer true. Its been corrupted by maori party, tamahere and their assiciates. Along with the maori roll. These outfits are just trash and garbage and need to be removed from parliament ASAP. What a corrupt country we have become. Shocking. | Kevan |
| This confusion will never go away until we confirm that we are one people – and race does NOT and cannot but divide a great little nation. | Maurice |
| Time for them to go | Sydney |
| That anyone with a trace of .Maori blood can enrol as a Maori is ridiculous and shows the inequality of such a system in a multicultural society. | Lynne |
| I’m sick of the whole maori thing. One country, one people, one vote, one law etc.. Democracy should rule, not apartheid. | Gerard |
| We have elected Maori in all political parties, so it is time to abolish Maori seats. | Gillian |
| Scrap them forthwith. | Hohepa |
| Yes and quickly. | gale |
| We need to return to democracy by its very definition. 1 person, 1 vote. | John |
| Absolutely yes so that New Zealand may be an egalitarian society in a democracy. For all citizens to have equal rights and opportunities. | Margaret |
| Should have been done decades ago!! We need to have ALL aspects of racialism removed from the voting and representative governing system. | David |
| Absolutely had a guts full of this separatism & reference to it by our lefty journalists!! | Ron |
| Let people win their seats on merit | Kim |
| 100% | Rob |
| Absolutely YES. Long Long over due. National needs to grow a stiff spine and just do it. ACT & NZ First, do what we elected you to do, save our country, Now is the time. | Sam |
| Long overdue | Peter |
| Get rid of all maori seats | Alan |
| Times have changed and we should become one people | Neil |
| It has got so out of hand that a complete reset is needed. | Tim |
| Absolutely for the sake of NZ. One people, one nation. | William |
| The Maori seats have outlived their usefulness and with the recent disclosure of how the Maori numbers have been calculated, it appears the numbers seem to be a jack-up. Anyone we need to be one nation and one people and these Maori seats are dividing our nation. | Keith |
| Only one racial party allowed in the Beehive……have a guess?? Time for racism to be removed from our representative government, and the party….. and the seats! | David |
| long overdue | Gregor |
| We should be a Democratic country | Lois |
| Way past time | John |
| Maori seats along with all the health treatment and other Maori only handouts must be removed asap, We are becoming the laughing stock of the free world. | Steve |
| We are all New Zealanders, there should be NO raced based seats | Pauline |
| Yes Defiantly, and a Referendum on the Treaty, and get it sorted for once and all, or they (M) will continue with their separist state | Tony |
| Without delay | Brenda |
| The Maori seats most definitely need to go, both in central and local government. | Susan |
| I have no problem if maori earn there seats as others do but just because they are semi maori or say they are, they demand seats and god knows what else and the likes of chippy, the most hated woman nz ever had,and the two previous treaty minister and now luxon we have bucklys chance of them and the treaty being repealed, but i live in hope that common sense prevails so we live as ALL NEW ZEALANDERS | Richard |
| They are anachronistic and from a bygone era. They achieved their purpose and should have been cancelled once universal suffrage was introduced. | Francis |
| It should have been done long before. I will be surprised to see if the coalition have the balls to do it however. | Dennis |
| democracy can only exist when the racialism promoted by certain iwi leaders is abolished | bob |
| If New Zealand is ever to return to a truly representative democracy then all New Zealanders must be treated as equals when voters decide the make up of our Government. | Chris |
| Outdated | Ken |
| YES! YES! YES! | Murray |
| If we want to continue to call ourselves a democracy, the removal of the maori seats has to happen. | Peter |
| These seats are now NOT required as your race should NOT matter. Most is covered when you are voting in an election or bt election. | Carl |
| Absolutely, what we voted them in for. To stop this separatist movement stone dead and reunite New Zealand | Sharon |
| Many Maori have left New Zealand for Australia and other countries. Got to ask why? When defining race, it becomes a racist | Pam |
| Long overdue | Beverley |
| Racism has no part in NZ politics | gary |
| YES. As a descendant of Maori ancestors I strongly believe that the need for Maori seats must be consigned to history. Maori are ably represented and will continue to be so without the need for any form of favouritism. | Gary |
| we all have a common ancestry. Just go back far enough. | Jan |
| Maori seats have made it way too easy to get into parliament. Racism has resulted by continuiing these seats and giving special rights to Maori over every one else | Lynette |
| Just repeal it – it is overdue for decades. | Scott |
| There is no need for this racial seat. one NZ, not ‘special’ groups. | Rod |
| The result of such a poll would be a clear indication of the nations position a referendum on the Principles of the Treaty! | John |
| Im sick of certain people thinking they deserve more of everything. it never used to be this way. If I wasnt too old, I’d leave my country and go live somewhere else. | Marie |
| Of course it is really a question of whether to keep the general seats. Anyone born in NZ can identify as Maori so should be on the Maori roll! Anyone who disagrees with that is obviously racist! 😉 | James |
| Should of been done years ago, | Roy |
| Am disgusted with the ongoing situation where a small sector of our community is using alleged racism to slowly “boil the frog” | Roy |
| Anyone in New Zealand no matter what race or religion can get elected into politics on their own merits. Defiantly not by race. Time to sweep the slate clean. | Wayne |
| looong overdue | John |
| New Zealand is in extreme danger of becoming an apartheid country. I fear for future generations if this runaway train is not derailed | Glen |
| Yes..yes…YES….YEEEEES..!! | Geoff |
| It’s time for the seats to go together with the Waitangi tribunal. | Jana |
| The labour govts strategy was divide and rule. We do not need that in our beautiful country | Beryl |
| THE STATE call a PEOPLES referendum- hahaha good one. | neil |
| LONG OVERDUE!! Should’ve been done years ago. | Tony |
| Maori status should be that persons blood, DNA , being majority Maori | Julz |
| All New Zealanders should be equal! No matter where from. | Mike |
| We are disgusted by some of the behavior, coming from some of our polititions – Te Pati Maori, the Greens and Willie in particular where racisim is showing the most..So much disrespect And too much (IWI) or I want it governing us all.. | Julie |
| This racist anachronism should have been abolished years ago. Only National’s cowardice is preventing the calling of a referendum, which would surely be won by the abolitionist side. | David |
| Absolutely. I am a New Zealander. | Jackie |
| Maori seats are past their ‘use by’ date | Bruce |
| Remove all references to ethnicity from our Government, Councils and community. | Rex |
| Long overdue. Just need the politicians with the gonads to make it happen | Bruce |
| It’s time to put this matter right. | John |
| Needs to be repealed, and a majority voting for that will confirm this. | Hugh J |
| And the referendum should be immediate, considering all the manipulating and suspected dishonesty with settlements dollars, millions of dollars being used by the Waipareira lot instead of trickling down to the needy part Maori. Check out pics of Tamahere mansion. And Willie Jackson’s housing portfolio. These seats MUST be gone NOW, not in 2 or 3 elections time when it’ll be too late as too much damage will be done to NZ by then. And Luxon needs to be gone as leader of the Nats, NOW. | Carol |
| If we have referendum, it will be an honest way to see how people feel about it. | Dianne |
| the sooner the better | Mark |
| Now is the time to categorically state by our words and our actions that – YES !! – we are a democracy, – AND MEAN IT !! | Leon |
| I would actually prefer that the common sense approach would be to just abolish the ridiculous Maori seats WITHOUT a referendum. It is LONG OVERDUE and serves no useful purpose to the majority of New Zealanders. Quite the reverse. | John |
| Statistics can be made to represent the bias of those that have an agenda! Shocking the underhandedness of the so called Maori elites. Their tactics do not represent democracy in any way shape or form. | Dianne |
| They are over-represented in parliament now. | Chris |
| A resounding YES. There is no place for racial segregation in a progressive democracy such as New Zealand. Maori have been more than compensated for historic grievances and as a NZ taxpayer of Jugoslavian heritage I have had enough of this bullshit. Get off your brown butts and make a way for yourselves as my ancestors did. | Mike |
| It might be better to wait until after any enquiry into misuse of census data as this will surely raise awareness throughout the NZ population. | Steve |
| Funding for ‘maori’ should be on the % of maori ethnicity that is PROVEN -why should a 25% Maori blood person get 100% of the ‘handout’ or assistance? | Margaret |
| No. Just repeal them, they have the mandate, and they are not necessary for representation anymore. | Andrew |
| The Maori seats are not needed with MMP as it is very possible for Maori to be represented . This is shown by the fact that there are far more seats held by Maori than their proportion of t he population. | Dorothy |
| One can only hope it is not too late to stem the blatent racial trend in NZ. Too right is the undue bias & influence of minority race at the university where I work ! | Dane |
| The Maori electorates were introduced in 1867 under the Maori Representation Act. They were created in order to give Maori a more direct say in parliament. The electorates were intended as a temporary measure. Maori seats were meant to be abolished in 1879 when the rule was removed that you had to own land under your personal name (inadvertently excluding groups/tribes) to be able to vote. | Alex |
| THE SOONER THE BETTER | ROB |
| Dont bother with a referendum. Just axe them | Mark |
| No apartheid. | David |
| referendum is long overdue. | Peter |
| Definitely. The seats need to be repealed | Norm |
| They are an ancronism | Shaun |
| We must stand against this being ddevided by race based legislation. | Robert |
| Obviously! | David |
| The sooner the better | Bill |
| All New Zealanders should have equal rights. | Roger |
| Absolutely. We should have no race based decision at all Equal treatment for everyone, otherwise you will. have. resentment and disharmony. | Carole |
| They were a temporary arrangement in the 1860s and should have been dispensed with the advent of universal suffrage. | Roger |
| Immediately | Bryan |
| Absolutely !!!!! The Maori seats should be totally removed — end of story. It’s not racist to do so and in fact it’s the Maori who are the racists !!!!!!!!!!!!! | Alan |
| Yes BUT they should be abolished under democracy and the coalition’s pledge not to ascribe different rights and responsibilities to NZers on the basis of race. Also the racist departments of Whanau Ora and The Department of Maori Affairs must go along with the nearly 600 foreshore claims before only those of dubious Maori blood can access our crown beaches. | Brenda |
| It would be good if they could but I doubt the coalition have the finance available to call a referendum. | Jacqueline |
| Please do not stop there, the Govt ought to add to the same Referendum, either a proper definition of the so called “Principles” of the Treaty of Waitangi (ToW) or go even further & scrap the ToW altogether as it is definitely well past its Used by Date. If the recommendation by the Electoral Commission back when MMP was voted in as our new Voting System, when they said that the Maori Seats ought to be abolished, so the sooner the better, so we can rid Parliament & the whole of NZ of these radical activists being paid by Taxpayers ridiculous salaries for stirring shite & promoting aparthied. | Bruce |
| Without doubt YES | Fiona |
| Get rid of race based crap. We are all equal | Laurie |
| No Maori seats for free | Anthony |
| Do it under urgency! | Glyn |
| BUT, sorry Doctor it is not going to achieve anything. I have not watched TV One News since 2020. Last night, Sunday 16th June I watched and would have sworn I was watching the Maori Channel. Maori or polynesians in most ads, led by a polynesian with maori news journalists. I am not a racist having Maori family buy enough is enough. | Hone |
| it is long over due,other wise my family is off to australia,some are there already, because of this race bulshit,as a 5th generation kiwi,never been anti maori, find it hard to believe our govt. can be so gutless and stupid ! | norm |
| Democratic voting essential | Brenda |
| The Maori party doesn’t influence governments, the UN does with all their other agendas designed to divide to allow an easier transition to One World Government, something the oligarchs of the world have wanted for decades. NZ has been turned from a democracy i8nto a racist, divisive apartheid state and the extreme parties encouraging violence get away with it because they “aren’t white” | Larry |
| Stephen Gerald ORegan ( alias Tipene )is 1 16th Maori by blood line He is more Irish than Maori But still claims he is Maori | Anon |
| have a cleanout and abolish any race based agenda We are all one people | leo |
| Leave the Treaty as it was pre Waitangi Days. | Peter |
| The seats should have been abolished many years ago. We are one people, no need for separate voting for any one group. | Leslie |
| As a person with Maori descendcy I am appalled that this information has been manipulated when my personal preference is to be referred to as a Kiwi , not a European or Maori, which are the choices on our Census form. | Clem |
| Apartheid WILL drive more valuable Kiwis out of NZ if this madness continues | mike |
| Maori no longer need separate representation in Parliament. | Neil |
| Democracy above all. | susan |
| No Contest. | Ross |
| Oh yes please. Asap. I am sick of the whinging and whining of these elitist radicals wanting more and more. The time has come for the maori seats to go. | Peter |
| The mandate to remove them goes back to a reccomendation from the electoral commission in the 1990’s when the present electoral system was voted for. Get on and do it. | Brian |
| This should have happened long ago, in order to retain equal rights of representation for all ethnic groups. | Robert |
| Absolutely they are racist END OF STORY | Greg |
| Repeal! They are not necessary. | Kim |
| Maori seats should have gone long ago | Edward |
| Maori representation is adequate now. Everything now is centred around the needs of the Maori. Many Maori EXPECT continual funding from government for EVERYTHING. i sick of it as there are MANY other NZealanders who are in great need but dont get anyrhing. I am NOT being racist just stating facts. | Sylvia |
| disestablish them | Tony |
| long overdue. | john |
| we are all equal. there should be no race based seats | fred |
| This is urgent. | Ronmac |
| Is it not time for making sure that those who claim to be Maori to prove that they are Maori. A blood test, not a piece of paper. Those hangers on who look more like white faced Pakeha should prove their right to claim the right to speak as if they are Maori. If they are real Maori fine but if they are not keep your yelling for your birthday party. | Johan |
| We must stop this potential racism before it seriously divides our nation and its citizens. It does not benfit anyone and is resulting in wasted administration costs. | Graeme |
| As an expat South African, it appalls me to see Apartheid being practiced in NZ, a country which claims to have had a hand in destroying Apartheid in SA. Apartheid means Separatism in Afrikaans. No one can argue that this definition applies to NZ. | Geoffrey |
| The sooner the better | John |
| NZ has become very divided in recent years, unfortunately Maori leadership are driving a wedge in our society with their separatist co government aims. | Chris |
| Most definitely, Sir Aparna Ngata Recommended that this be done Many years ago. Successive Governments have been too Frightened to Implement it. | Richard |
| ASAP | Dennis |
| surely the repeal is part and parcel of the MMP referendum | robin |
| Fix this self imposed problem once and for all. | Karen |
| Yes, it certainly should – for the long term security and well fare of New Zealand’s democratic society. A very staunch effort is evolving to wrench severity away for an activist group; which just might be working thanks to a history of week kneed politicians opening the door! | Stuart |
| For goodness sake, just remove them, no referendum required. | Mark |
| This should have been done as soon as MMP was in place as recommend by the Royal commission by | Heather |
| Enough of this nonsense. The Maori Party are playing up again. Of course we need a referendum. | William Clive |
| The Maori Party have demonstrated through their antics ad nausum that they are not willing to participate in the parliamentary process. When something is not fit for purpose then it is redundant. | John |
| Absolutely | David |
| Long overdue | Barbara |
| Of course a referendum should be held. But I promise you, with J.Key mark two in charge {Luxon} it will not happen in the foreseeable future. National has the same Globalist ambition as most of the now crumbling Western democracies. | A.G.R. |
| A big fat YES! | Walnetta |
| These seats are racist based. | mark |
| Needs to happen NOW. | Laurie |
| Whilst it will be devisive, there is no better time that now. Removing the Maori seats must surely be in the interests of one country, one people. | Peter |
| There should be no Maori seats | Graeme |
| Long over due. | Ray |
| These seats are an anachronism being exploited by tribal racist grifters for personal financial benefit and power. | John |
| It’s is time to stop all the divisive nonsense and move on | Phil |
| Of course. | Leon |
| absolutely!! | tony |
| Race based policy has never worked in a real democracy. A united NZ is the only path forward. | Dave |
| Colour blind should be the objective | Ian |
| One people without fair or favour. | Murray |
| I am part Maori but will never go on their electoral roll. We all need to be as one and NO racial bias. It just divides us. I can see why it is being pursued but is only benefiting a very small minority and is not for the good of all peoples | alan |
| It’s called DEMOCRACY | Peter |
| As soon as… | Rhys |
| The Govt should not merely “call for” but enact the referendum | Robert |
| If there is NZ majority consensus then the question has been truly answered. Let the country have its say. | Ann |
| The Maori seats were first established to allow Maori men voting rights without the land ownership requirements of the time. They should have been abolished when male universal voting was established and DEFINITELY when univsersal sufferage was brought in. They were temporary in intent and have now lived way beyond their use by date. Waititi and his ilk are being totally treasonist in their current comments and if this the future of Maori seat MP’s ( exclude Seymour and Peters etc.) then we MUST abolish them | Robin |
| The Maori seats are unfairly advantageous to Maori | Graham |
| Would be a great idea. But the government won’t have the guts to do that. | Andrew |
| Yes we have to change all the racist polices of the labour Govt | Davi |
| New Zealand is becoming more racist, because of the unethical over representation of Maori in Parliament. The Maori seats need to be abolished. | David |
| Should have happened long ago. | Dick |
| New Zealand for all, no one is any better than anyone, time to end this sad state of affairs, let us end this racial division, we are all better than this. | Colleen |
| Definitely | Tony |
| This dithering has been going on for far too long. The statemen/question is straight forward, but a thorough and simple synopsis needs to be broadcast, similar to what Muriel has posted, so that ALL people can understand the argument. Lets be honest! Many people claiming strong Maori ancestry have European surnames, inherited from the Paternal bloodline. The Maternal bloodline is less obvious for the same reason, if they married a Maori, Asian or other ethnic male, it’s up to a DNA test. Perhaps that is what is needed to resolve the racial argument. Test all that claim Maori ancestry to determine if their Maori blood is 50% or more. If not? Get off the Maori Roll! | Vic |
| A resounding YES. Should have been done decades ago. And the sooner the better. There are enough Maoris as MPs to look after their interests. Which should be the same for everyone. | Sheila |
| If only someone would have the bravery to do so | Gail |
| YES, Repeal the Maori seats ASAP. One NEW ZEALANDER ONE VOTE, all citizens must be equal when it comes to DEMOCRACY, no iffs or buts. | John |
| The Maori Seats are well past the need for their use. They only promote separatism . Any person born in NZ is indigenous to NZ. | John |
| If not !The Chinese population should also get race based seats in parliament, since there are about a million REAL Chinese in this country. They did and still help the economy of NZ. This can’t be said of many maori decendents. | Peter |
| Got to happen, People like me, after 70 years, have had a guts full of one watered down race getting dominance over all others. Leaving the country to the rat bags. | Andrew |
| I dont see a need for a referendum. They should just be deleted based on knowledge and recommendations we already have. But since the only way to get rid of the racist seats is by a referendum then sobeit. | Antoni |
| The Maori seats should be abolished anyway but due to the outcry a referendum would be needed. | Isobel |
| The maori seats, for decades limited to four but now up to seven, are an instrument for the racial division of this country by a separatist movement which is backed by Labour and the mainstream media. The seats must be removed, although Te Reo Luxon and the National Party will oppose that. It falls, therefore, on Act and New Zealand First to spearhead the push against this separatist movement which is destroying New Zealand. | Gavin |
| We are a multi-racial country & should be looking forward. | Doug |
| It is way past time that the maori seats are abolished, and all refernce to maori and the TOW is removed from all legislation. Until such time we cannot move forward as one people, one country. | Rod |
| Yes the Maori seats should have been removed years ago. | Margaret |
| Definitely the sooner the better | Greg |
| Only a racist country needs to have race based seats in the Parliament | Grant |
| No question about it. The Maori were very deceitful insureing that careful wording refered to their version of the treaty and it should be repealed. A hell of a job, almost impossible to understand their wording of all the subjects/catagories on the labels on bookshelves at the Rotorua Public Library. | Ian |
| YES , THEY ARE OVERLY REPRESENTED AS IT IS | Laurie |
| Support your coments | Doug |
| Like you have stated the Maoris are taking over by stealth, most Nz’ers would have no idea of these facts. In my view the coalition has dropped the ball, I’m very disappointed in them an Mr Luxon needs the boot or get the courage to lead | Noeline |
| One person, one vote – race shouldn’t affect how democracy works. | Nikki |
| The people NEED to have their say! It is also a democratic decision to be made, one that cannot be argued with. | Heather |
| if anyone over the age of 18 wishes to enroll and states they are of Maori descent they can be enrolled on the Maori Roll if they so choose. No proof is required. I might have a crack at getting on the Maori Roll as I can see many advantages in so doing… I have left it many years too late. The country is stuffed and the Maori seats is one of the reasons . Some people are more equal than others in this country and it is not the majority.! ‘God Defend NZ”. | Bruce |
| Our democracy depends on it | Bruce |
| Make it a binding referendum. One country, one people, many races. | DAVID |
| I am so angry with the accelerating racist Maori behaviour and its capture of all government institutions and the media. These self identifying as Maori people are nothing more than grasping parasites who are killing the host they feed off. Maori agitators and activists need to be designated as terrorists and treated by the law accordingly. Enough is enough. BTW a referendum is unnecessary. The government has already been given a mandate to just do it. Just do it. | Richard |
| absolutely long overdue! | steve |
| do it now | Ian |
| They should have gone with MMP. | Wayne |
| The indigenous elite are bent on driving this country on a road to apartheid. Easily condemned when it was in a different part of the world but now driven here with impunity | Hugh |
| should have happened back in 1993 | Colin |
| Why are our elected Parliamentary representatives so afraid to implement the changes recommended by the Royal Commission? | Barrie |
| the maori seats should be eliminated. It’s plain racism. BR | Bruce |
| Well overdue. | William |
| and make maori pay same tax as other kiwis | donald |
| We are tired of the Maori Elite tring to take over our country. | Kath |
| It’s time we were all New Zealanders with same rights and privileges . We are heading for pure racism. | Bill |
| Long overdue & we are now reaping the (rewards? Yeah right!) of not getting rid of them as part of instituting MMP as our electoral system | Rex |
| Maori seats are well past their expiration date and in order to enjoy a country that is free from racism and special privileges for someone who has an ancestor who is Maori, has no place in a modern democracy | Luke |
| Democracy at all cost | Claire |
| Long Overdue | Clinton |
| No more racism | Brian |
| Most definitely. There are no Maori today – only people of mixed ancestry. We should all be treated the same and race should not come into it. A referendum is long overdue. | Helen |
| Time to get rid of this curse! | Derek |
| the whole system is a total scam. Why don’t we all tick the Maori box? We are indigenous, born here, been here longer than most of them who are clipping the ticket. No wonder people are leaving in droves. I wish I could | Erin |
| There has never been a mandate for the changes that were made so time for the voter to have a say | David |
| This removal was proposed by the electoral commissiom when MMP was introduced, as they said back then that Maori would be over-represented in parliament. Those of maori descent have proven beyond reasonable doubt, that they can now look after their own aaffair, so the privelage of seats in their name in parliament now needs to be revoked | Trevor |
| Maori seats were meant to go when MMP came into effect. Must go to rid the maori radicals from our parliament. It is unbeliable how radical maori have infiltrated every govt department and soley for their own benefit. We are no longer a democracy. OUTRAGEOUS. | Allan |
| Well past time | Beverley |
| I am sick and tired of the lies politicians tell, just to get into Parliament. All 3 coalition parties have lied one way or another. Renegging seems to be popular | Ray |
| all New Zealanders should be equal | Stanley |
| Comment is hardly needed. Race-based seats have long lived out their relevance. | Bazza |
| If a referendum is what it will take to repeal the Maori seats, then let’s do it as soon as possible before it’s too late. We’ve had all the promises – now we need to see some effective action! | Scott |
| We could have already had this. NZ First campaigned on this in the run up to the 2017 election and then reneged on it during the coalition formation process. | Richard |
| Get rid of the Maori seats. | Graham |
| Its long overdue and should have been done when MMP was introduced | Rod |
| MMP provides all Kiwis with a vote, including maori. They are free to stand in any electorate | Walter |
| Don’t want to live in a country divided by race | Kay |
| They should have done this a long time ago | Rod |
| We should all have equal rights under the law, as the treaty clearly says. | philip |
| One for all, all for one. | Sven |
| If nothing is done it will only get worse. | Peter |
| The definition of “Maori” should also revert to the 50% Maori blood criteria, not just any faintly suggestion of Maori ancestory. | Maurice |
| Absolutely! | Alastair |
| This is the only method/process we have available to us to influence the direction of our country albeit elections should have been a forum but are now suspiciously corrupted. | Helen |
| Long overdue | Alan |
| A difficult situation though, “morally”. Maori were here first, by 7-8 hundred centuries. Their culture [the non-warfare parts] and language should be respected [it is, and Maori culture is there with Powhiri almost everywhere, and Kapa Haka .. and immigrants and visitors think this great.] But in Law, in Justice, in Governance, all citizens should be equal, with no racial biases. | Rochelle |
| Enough ,enough of this maori bullshit that is undermining our wonderful country of New Zealand . Please Kiwis PLEASE stop supporting ANY/ALL companies that call our country Aotearoa . The advertisers will soon stop the use of our countries proper name , prompted by woke ,trendy, advertising low life’s , when people boycott their products . Vote with your feet and abandon ,as I do ,any use of anything apart from NZ . Small steps to counter the insidious move to apartheid based agenda . How surprising that fraudulent practices have been found out with John Tamahere on his marae ,Will his entire family be living in jail soon . | Ray |
| definitely | donald |
| I would like Maori seats abolished. We must get rid of the racism in our country, it causes so much hurt. | Russell |
| Maori seats should have been abolished when MMP was brought in. It makes no sense to divide NZ by race the way it is mow. | Frank |
| One Nation, One People, One Vote. | Roy |
| The Census should only ask 3 questions are you a NZ citizen, a Resident or non resident. Ethnicity should not be part of a census statistic. | Peter |
| Time New Zealand became one country under God, not a race or the state. | Max |
| Maori seats in Parliament should have been abolished in the 1870s when universal male franchise was enacted and Maoris were no longer discriminated against for not having individual ownership of land. | David |
| A referendum is overdue | Sue |
| NZ has become totally raciest. I left in 1986. It was bad then. Today so far woke and left it may be impossible to bring back to the center. | John |
| This was promised in 1998? There is no reason for apartheid | Glenn |
| Dishonesty in savage affairs is paramount towards current dissent in N.Z. They are motivated by sloth, greed, entitlement, dishonesty. They contribute only to statistics in most things negative within N.Z. society They are Untrustworthy and are still killing their infants- because they are a warrior race. W.t.f.?? | mike |
| We should be one people one Nation – NEW ZEALAND | Chris |
| All we want is proper democracy ,nothing more | Russ |
| Any institution or legislation that calls for special privileges for one ethnic group over another is illegal. Or should be. | Jenny |
| Yes it is time that this happened. | Murray |
| The sooner the better | fred |
| This is well & truly overdue, the Maori seats were introduced only as a temporary measure initially and have in fact increased in number in the late 1990s early 2000s. This is outragous and needs to be addressed urgently. Maori are already far over represented. | Greg |
| Should have been done years ago. I don’t think Luxon has the backbone to do what’s best for the contry as a whole. | Brent |
| If the co-governance rubbish is not stopped now, this country will end up in civil war | Bruce |
| No referendum, abolish them NOW. | Peter |
| Absolutely 100% all references to race must be removed | Gareth |
| Yes, and it must be a binding referendum! The ‘number’ of maori seats is not ‘tainted’, the very existence of such seats is tainted. There are no statutory constraints on maoris standing for election, so the only reason that can be put forward for this situation is that maoris are inferior and cannot compete on equal terms with Europeans or Asians. Do they really want to acknowledge this inferiority publicly? If so, they have no business demanding seats to allow them to govern the rest of us. | TOBY |
| As there are no full blood Maori and there are enough who claim Maori descent already in Parliament, it is time the seats were gone. | Andrew |
| They now just represent the call of radical Maori and they should have been done away with when MMP was introduced | John |
| Better still, they should just repeal the repugnant things. | Mark |
| We dont want a reverse apartheid system in NZ……ever ! | Peter |
| Must be fair for all New Zealanders | Elizabeth |
| WAKE UP NEW ZEALAND. DO WE LOVE OUR COUNTRY OR NOT | ALAN |
| A referendum is required, thanks to the modern dictates re such a move. Personally I am opposed to racial seats and priviledges | Bob |
| Funny thing is the Electoral Commision went after Julian Batchelor, but overlooked warnings about what was happening in Auckland at the Marae etc. | Sheena |
| And the Waitangi Tribunal, and the Ministry of Maori Development, and Whanaora commissioning agencies and the list goes on | Judy |
| One citizen, one vote. | James |
| I have said for over a year that the Maori seat should be abolish and a end of all this racism bull shit. | Barry |
| Well overdue but Luxon and his party have not got the backbone to disrupt and offend the Maori elite and anyone that portrays as Maori. The handouts will continue as long as National have the majority, so we need to strengthen both ACT and NZ FIRST. I will guarantee that a number of Kiwis leaving are the results of N Z s RACE BASED Policies. | ken |
| A public referendum on this issue is long overdue. The existing system gives Maori excellent representation without the need for mandatory seats. Time to heal our society and cancel separatism and division. | Lee |
| They are welcome to be just like the rest of us….they are not special | Fiona |
| Who is a Maori should be quantitatively defined, not simply based on a feeling. | Donald |
| They are an anachronism and should be removed! | Roger |
| Are we not ONE PEOPLE, so why should there be two Parties based on Ethnicity especially when we have a very multi -cultural Society. | Geoff |
| Absolutely. There is no need for these seats any longer. | ted |
| It appears that – everyone funds the ‘Maori’ side of many things – surely we should all share equally | Peter |
| You bet! | Pamela |
| It is ludicrous that a maori can be defined as such with only a tiny percentage of maori ancestry. All other ethnicities are classified as New Zealanders for the purpose of democratic elections. Maori should be classified in the same way. | Neil |
| I give an unequivocal answer so that Stats NZ cannot decide that I am Maori. | Hugh |
| Maori are well represented in all political parties they have been elected democratically which is great there is no need for Maori seats | John |
| Quickly! | Peter |
| Long overdue | Michael |
| Of course, these seats should have been removed last century but no politician, then or since, has followed through on the Electoral Commission recommendation. Has the coalition government not undertaken to do this if elected? I’m surprised the current Deputy Prime Minister is not saying anything – he probably has but the MSM haven’t reported it. | Terry |
| The Government should go much further than this and change the Citizens Initiated Referenda Act 1993 from referenda being merely “indicative” to BINDING (always), and more readily initiated. We need to learn from Switzerland in this regard! | Colin |
| Maori seats should have been abolished with the introduction of MMP as the public wewre lead to believe would happen. | Rita |
| If I were to reveal that I had 1% maori blood in the census, would this go towards creating more maori seats? I am proudly 99% British and will vote against maori seats! | Greg |
| Now. | Iain |
| But will the government abide by the results IF the referendum is asked for?? There will be ‘maori’ noise !! | michael |
| This year would be 20 years late. | Martin |
| Definitely | Stewart |
| One nz for all | Stella |
| Most Definitely! | Michael |
| It’s well over due. | Angela |
| YES .. The sooner the better ! | Alan |
| This should have been done years ago by successive governments, so any time now to do it is a good time. I only hope the coalition government has sufficient push to get it moving. Murray | Murray |
| DEFINITELY. | iAN |
| Said it before and i’ll say it again. maori are not native or indigenous to NZ so should have no special rights. | Rick |
| A lot of all this problem, dates back to John Key allowing Sir Pita Sharples to go and sign the UN declaration of Indigence Peoples, when they are just early immigrants like the ancestors of most of us. And hey, why are the 83% of NZer’s still forking out millions in special benefits to Maori, when they have already paid billions in so called “compensation? | Ted |
| Racism is going to kill this country dead in the water although it is already along way down the track to that end now. I don’t envy any government trying to reverse the situation as they will be labelled racist by many in NZ and of course by that useless organisation named the UN! | Robert |
| Definitely as there are no full blooded Maori left.they are now like the rest of the population born with a mixture of races and blood in them.so having maori seats is now giving a group of mixed blood preferential privileges | john |
| UNLESS ALL OF YOU EMAIL ALL TOP MP,s about this NOTHING WILL BE DONE & I URGE MURIEL TO SEND THIS TO ALL MP,s | Cindy |
| Please make sure these results are in the prime minister’s hands. | Heather |
| Race based government is never a good idea: in South Africa it was called “apartheid”. In New Zealand it’s called “co-governance” In each case a minority race claims the right to govern the majority. | Peter |
| The sooner the better | Warren |
| Very definitely | Liz |
| it is time to get rid of the race based criteria and base it on ones qualifications and ability | Les W |
| it makes no sense, get rid of them | Noel |
| We are only seconds away from being too late!!! | Henk |
| Would cost too much and a waste of valuable time. | Trish |
| They should not be there!!!! All New Zealanders should be treated equally. All laws should be cancelled or amended to achieve that. | Greg |
| I am in shock that all these govt departments are in co-governance arrangements with IWI. My god we were closer to tribal rule than we realised. Rewove the Maori seats they are no longer required & were supposed to go when MMP came in & remove all co-governance arrangements with IWI & anytone else government is supposed to be democratically voted in , we now see why governments change but the underlying problems remain. | NIGEL |
| The maori seats should be abolished immediately by an act of parliament, they blatantly undemocratic. But if it takes a referendum, so be it. | Geoff |
| Definitely and urgently. | Clive |
| Absolutely-cheating on census forms is extremely undemocratic. My grandmother was half Spanish, half Irish but don’t under any circumstances consider myself either Spanish or Irish! The classification for being Maori is beyond stupid. | Laura |
| Just go ahead an repeal it all., and stop farting around with apartheid and separatist support. | Bryan |
| Absolutely. All Maori seats must be abolished, along with all other Maori privilege in law that is not available to every other NZer. Maori are over represented in parliament and running roughshod over every other NZer. The cancerous Maorification of our country must be stopped. | Steve |
| We are one people! This division and separatism called for by the iwi elite is destroying our country. | Mary |
| fiving all of us | paul |
| Should have gone years ago as was agreed | Jeremy |
| We have democratically elected Government. The basis for democracy – all citizens have equal rights! No specific rights on the racial basis! | Lyudmila |
| Absolutely YES! Having been born in the UK, I could identify as being Roman or Viking on the basis the government uses to collect statistics on race. | Mark |
| Repeal !!!!! Your yes or no is not clear | Terry |
| every one should be the same | David |
| Absolutely, an anachronism from the 19th century. | Lionel |
| I think this Govt is as bad as the last one as far as everything Maori is concerned, I worry that nothing we do makes any difference, we have been trying for so long and I am now a pensioner so can’t contribute right now as I would have liked. My family are all in Australia now with their great qualifications. | Barbara |
| This whole problem surely needs an overhaul. But expect kickbacks ! | Terry |
| however, I don’t think any political party will have the strength/guts to undertake such a move. | mike |
| iT’S TIME TO BE ONE PEOPLE | Selwyn |
| Political representation on the basis of how people “self identify” is anti democratic and should be abolished | Robert |
| Yes, the slow creep of the corrupt Iwi cancer is eating away New Zealand. | Neil |
| Actually perhaps they should just repeal them, Maori are already over represented and many other cultures under represented. | |
| absolutely yes, if democracy is to survive | john |
| They have no place in a modern democracy. | Steve |
| We are all human beings, we are all the same. If you want to define yourself by your race, you will never be a complete human being, you will never be free. So why enslave everyone? Why must you? Please leave the light turned on! | Alan |
| Of course this must happen too much of this sculduggery is happening and it is attributed to cunning Maori actions… | JIM |
| time has come | peter |
| The need to separate Maori electoral input based on a general educational limitations as prevailed with uneducated natives of 1840 where a number of chiefly signatories could not even write their own name, has now passed and there is no impediment to maori now being integrated fully as one people under the one law as the Treaty intended. | Richard |
| Yes most definitely and the time is now. | John |
| The continued entrenchment is undemocratic, has served the purpose it was originally intended, and frankly is no longer relevant given the number of Maori MPs in parliament. | Chris |
| As soon as possible | Chris |
| Of course they should to at long last gain a genuine reflection of the overall public belief in the existing biased nonsense of an apartheid system that truly needs to be COMPLETELY DISBANDED, it puts the whole nation back 100 years. Let the people of the nation speak. And God forbid that the Maori seats retention is anywhere near what the majority want or need… If I’m wrong I’m off to Columbia to join a Cartel, I hear it’s good money (unlike here!). | Graham |
| Personally, I’m sick of the separate regulations that appear to have taken over democracy in New Zealand. Get rid of the Maori seats. That would be a good start. | Elizabeth |
| Most definitely. It is long overdue, and the rest of the population deserve a return to proper democracy with equal rights to every citizen. | Paul |
| This country frightens me on how vastly it has changed over the 30yrs Ive been here. I am all for anyone getting by on their merit, but certainly not on their race. We are so divided its scary. No wonder people are leaving this country. I would too and i love NZ | Kerin |
| Long Overdue | Michael |
| The proponents of co-governance and the authors of the He huahua report are guilty of treason | Kevin |
| Repeal | Riaz |
| The Maori seats in Parliament are LONG past their use by date. | Barrie |
| How long must I live in New Zealand to be a New Zealander – nothing more, nothing less. My parents and their parents and so on were born here and none ever left barring war service. I have never travelled overseas. But every census asks my ethnicity. Because I look like my ancestors I am loaded with guilt and endless reparations for wrongs perpetrated against other New Zealanders who look like their ancestors. We are all one people, racial and tribal division must stop. Get rid of the maori seats. | Peter |
| Of course and the 1974 Maori Affairs amendment act should be repealed and the definition of a Maori should go back to,one who has at least 50% proven Maori blood. | Peter |
| The only answer is: YES,YES,YES | William |
| Radical Maori are gaining control by stealth. The mechanisms facilitating this must be neutralized. | Glyn |
| We want our country to be at true democracy where all racial groups are treated the same | Marion |
| Well overdue | Stephen |
| As soon as you give in to maori they come back for more , the day is fast approaching when they will try and take over by force. we must get rid of all race based positions from this country and that starts at the top! GET RID OF MAORI SEATS ASAP. | glyn |
| Most definitely! Otherwise, the outcome is dire. | Grahame |
| Absolutely! | Simonne |
| Racism of a dangerolus kind. | Thomas |
| It is very hard to believe just how corrupt and dangerous a situation the last Labour government has left New Zealand in and thank god we have this coalition government starting to put it right,especialy NZ First and Act | Kevin |
| Should we not have DNA tests, through saliva to determine who is maori and who isnt, that will give us the truth | Noel |
| There is no need for these race based seats as representation exists vis the alternative system | Gavin |
| absolutely, long over due. | Gerhard |
| Get the opinion of the people. | Roger |
| Well, don’t have a referendum, just get rid of them! | John |
| Lets sort it once and for all they were only temporary anyway should also vote on what is minimum to qualify as a Maori as this has been diluted to almost zero from 50% | Richard |
| While I strong support such a referendum I there is too much anti Maori racism that is not justified by actions of the racist Maori Party. | Chuck |
| Absolutely sick of this Moari nonsense. We have MMP. Moari seats need to go. They should of gone when MMP started. | Darren |
| The electoral commission advised that they should be removed when we introduced MMP into our voting system due to the likely overrepresentation of Maori in the House. There’s no point in having the Electoral commission if we don;t accept their recommendations. That implies a total waste of their funding. The fudging of Maori ethnicity to just anyone who is co-erced to declare themselves Maori by unscrupulous political propogandists for political gain is ouright scandalous and blatantly dishonest as can other matters of Maori declarations. This government needs to come down hard on these issues and declare that any persuits that oppose democracy in this country is illegal. Further the radical maori left is showing military intent and needs to be tempered. The question of a separate Maori parliament raises the question of funding and how they will fund separate maori social and health institutions as it should be made clear that there are no funds available to them from the public purse and nor would they be entitled to utilise any publicly funded developments in the country. They will be reduced to building their own infrastructures such as roading, hospitals and schools on their own land surely a civil war will erupt | terrence |
| Gone by dinner last night! | Peter |
| Most definitely, and long overdue! | Vic |
| Yes we support this, however I doubt very much the coalition would have the courage to implement it, given the backlash from Maori. Think the horse has bolted somehow. | Lawrie |
| The definition of Maori ethnicity must also be redefined to full or half genetically . On the census New Zealander should be first choice NOT European | Stan |
| Maori seats should have LONG GONE. Pandering to activists now | Gill |
| Long overdue | Terry |
| Without any shadow of doubt. NZ must extricate itself from this disgraceful situation and restore the country of a place where all are equal without fear or favour. | neville |
| No race based or religious based politics please, also what is the definition of indigenous peoples? Maori as per my colonial information have arrived on hollowed out tree trunks earlier and decimated the indigenous people and some animals. 1/16 etc maori genes constitutes that they are are well and truly majority later arrivals, dare I say it, from pakeha decent. Anyway, all this racial stuff is useless, a government must look after it’s people equally. | Leonard |
| But they won’t because National, and probably NZFirst, would not support it. Our Coalition government are fiddling while Wellington burns. At the end of their 3 years in power there will be little meaningful change to the pro-maori takeover and, as the polls are showing, they are in a precarious position with the Loony Left snapping at their heels. NZ is firmly on the path to ruin and our current PM won’t change that. | Derek |
| Should have been dropped long ago. ‘WE ARE ONE PEOPLE’ Time for the Waitangi Tribunal to disappear too. | John |
| They should have been repealed when MMP was brought in. Way past time they were abolished. | Angela |
| It’s a no brainer. Please action this immediately as the racism and division is already out of hand. | Jane |
| This racist iniquity must be stopped urgently, less the proverbial horse be bolted way beyond the stable door and we will then be in the land of apartheid. | Rob |
| What is taking so long? | Harvey |
| Even if a referendum was called for I doubt that it would be followed through | Andrew |
| Should have happened decades ago. | John |
| One person one vote is the basis of our democracy. The system has been fiddled with for too long. Please get back to basics and honour article 3 of the Treaty which gave us equality. | margaret |
| We are one people. | Raymond |
| definitely repeal | Rob |
| ABSOLUTELY !! | Peter |
| And the government already has a mandate to abolish the Maori seats. | David |
| Abolish Maori seats in parliament. Race-based seats are apartheid. Stay with ethnic-based seats. We are an ethnic-based society. Multiculturalism is a Marxist ploy to divide our nation. | Donald |
| Stop the racial divide by these crooks that is destroying New Zealand | Vaughan |
| Long overdue | Dave |
| Absolutely. There is no justification. Reverse racism is just racism | Geoff |
| Lies, Damn Lies, & Statistics ! | BRUCE |
| Maorification of New Zealand, is heading us into a racially divided, less visionary, less motivated population, looking for someone else to care for us. New Zealand has lost its innovative flair, especially with those that it, fleeing the country | Bill |
| Democracy depends on the de-radicalisation of the racial influence | Graham |
| Time to follow through with the 1986 recommendation. | Kevin |
| Long overdue – no good reason for Govt dragging the chain on this and every good reason to do it | Doug |
| I have to repeat myself again: It has to start with the media. As long as they receive financial support from our Government , things will go wrong. As long as these pseudo seats in Parliament are upheld, things go wrong. As long as these malignent and racist characters in this Maori party do their dance and spiel in Parliament , things go wrong. And the latest revelations show that they are nothing but criminal ,untrustworthy , lying rabble rousers. | Michael |
| already more Maori MPs than roll suggests necessary | Bryan |
| The exodus of NZ’s from NZ are voting with their feet. | Mike |
| Race privilege must be abolished NOW. | John |
| Yes a priority | David |
| We are all New Zealanders race shouldnt come into it. | Mike |
| We are one people-one nation. All should be equal in every respect. To this end, abolish Maori seats and the Waitangi Tribunal | Tony |
| get rid of the seats. they have proven capable without the letup. | Chris |
| This is well overdue. The Maori seats are an anomaly in our modern day democracy. | Frank |
| Stop the division in NZ | Elizabeth |
| Immediately | Derek |
| Absolutely – as should have been done by the gutless Bolger Govt under the recommendation of the select committee for MMP – long overdue. Maori Seats Must Go! | Mike |
| If for nothing else than to stop any semblance of race-based government in New Zealand, those Maori seats need to be repealed by the will of the people of New Zealand, and then gone, and equality re established in New Zealand based on citizenship alone. We are ONE People after all. Kiwis. | Michael |
| About time we put this to the people of N Z and let them decide in a democratic manner | Michael |
| Racism is destroying the country. | John |
| And a return to a 50% racial content for what is called a Maori – rather than one-eighth or ‘just feeling Maori.’ | Paul |
| As an ex-South African who has been here for just over 30 years I see the current situation and trend dragging NZ right down to chaos I left behind back then. It is all heading in the direction of destroying this beautiful country. | Graham |
| Govt continuing to ignore the call of the majority to remove race based references is at their peril. Division is rife, even maori dont want iwi in charge. | Nikki |
| High time we had a referendum on this issue AND other issues such as the name of our country. Why have we never been asked if we want it called ‘Aotearoa’? These and other Maori names are being forced upon us with no mandate. We need a say! | Lee |
| This desperately needs to be doing | Charles |
| Past their useful date – Maori are well represented in Parliament. | Roydon |
| Well overdue | Steve |
| This nonsense has gone on for to long but I believe the government are frightened to do anything Maori my not like none seem to have the back bone to stand up to them | Peter |
| Yes please, but also let’s keep going with the necessary reforms to continue the process | David |
| I’m totally over race based politics and the associated gravy train | Grant |
| No single race should dominate. | Janet |
| Long past their use-by date | Dave |
| As recommended when the system changed to MMP | Darron |
| This is corrupt | Evans |
| Repea[ of Maori seats by publlic referendum. | Ann |
| if they don’t I fear we will end up like South Africa instead of true democracy where everyone is equal | Linda |
| Absolutely we should have equality for all citizens that live in New Zealand | Denise |
| Separatism out | Russell |
| I fear for my grandchildren if things carry on down this racist path. | Glenda |
| Equal rights for everyone | Gavin |
| Long overdue | Rod |
| We now live in a very multicultural society. One rule for all | Gloria |
| Nothing more certain in order to REGAIN democracy in NZ. | Hylton |
| And sooner the better. | Mark |
| Yes. But they won’t because the outcome is a fore gone conclusion. scrap them all together. Oh the political upheaval | frank |
| Yes. Now is the appropriate time to ascertain what all New Zealanders think about race based seats in Parliament. | Andrew |
| Governance should not be based upon a person’s race or ethnicity. | Colin |
| The Maori seats are there dishonestly | Deb |
| If we dont stop all these maori claims, this will turn NZ into the cess pit of the Pacific | Colin |
| Definately – but our woke PM will not do it | Gerry |
| Urgently | Cath |
| One has to ask when does a civil war start. | paul |
| The political will is lacking, I think – Key’s protege will continue the “work”. But in the name of fairness & equality the racially based seats should have been long gone! | Giles |
| Maori seats should have been abolished years ago. All Maori should have the same rights as New Zealanders | Chris |
| ONE people, ONE vote, ONE country. Disagree with that?? Have a DNA test of your ancestry & we’ll see the truth.!!!!! | Honest Dave |
| The continuing REVERSE racism is rapidly destroying our beautiful NEW ZEALAND and having seats determined by race is TOTALLY racism/wrong. | Brian |
| Maori seats are undemocratic. | John |
| I think that a public poll on the continuation of Maori seats is certainly warranted. But racial tensions are very high (admittedly due mainly to radical Maori activists), and as responsible citizens the rest of us must try to avoid inflaming them further. Therefore I think the poll must be carefully worded, and — in my opinion — it should not be a binding referendum. The final resolution to this issue should properly be left in the hands of Parliament. The poll would serve to inform and guide them, and to push them into action. | Marla |
| Should have been removed ages ago and our Maori wards out as well | Keith |
| Statsnz sharing data with iwi is exactly why I refused to answer any questions in their latest census. Until iwi are removed from data access, I will never complete any future census. | Koreen |
| Our current situation in NZ is quickly making racism a serious factor in our lives, many, of all ethnicities, are opposed to the direction our governments have ben taking us in but we are afraid to speak up. | Alastair |
| I may have told you that i have 2 granddaughters – the wealthy sons wife has a tiny drop of Maori blood so his daughter gets her denistry and braces fully paid – the other sons kids are white and he is struggling to pay the bills – his daughters braces will cost 9 thousand dollars and he gets no help – this kind of situation is everywhere and it is dividing families. It sucks. | Anna |
| The public have to fight their representatives over many unfair, undemocratic , racist issues. The local and central governments are the real problem | Laurie |
| Yes. Yes.. BUT Luxon does not have the faintist idea where to put his hands. He just potakas with the potakas. | RICHard |
| Many decades past their use by date. This separatism is the defining feature of the racist apartheid system rapidly growing in New Zealand. Be gone without delay. | Colin |
| Along with the Treaty of Waitangi | John |
| In the interest of integrity | Carol |
| 1986. The start of the divided New Zealand that we all live in 2024. Maori seats must be totally removed now . Better late than never ! | Chris |
| Special seats in parliament for Maori are nothing but engrained racism, and pandering to them, and must be stopped. | Peter |
| Obviously, but look at Budget 2024 and its full of maori ‘wonderfullness’. Fat chance that will happen. | Miles |
| BLM and Antifa have been furtively & insidiously installed in NZ – as it is in the USA & other Western Nations. Strong measures are required to STAMP IT OUT. | Coral |
| I am planning to leave NZ due to concerns of racial divisiveness affecting my freedom and safety. | Paul |
| The sooner the better | Rob |
| They must be removed. No seats based on race should exist. | Clive |
| Close the stirrers down, I need a nation not ruled by a group of self Gender thugs. | Ken |
| Maori are very capable of being elected on their own merit and do not need a select few to be gifted seats because of their self-acclaimed status within maoridom. It is insulting and demeaning to all Maori and incorrectly implies that they are incapable of succeeding without favour. | Martin |
| Long, long, long overdue. | Jim |
| Just get rid of them. | Warwick |
| This is a matter way more important than anything else this government and the majority within our population faces and must be dealt with definitively, irrevocably and as a matter of urgency, starting by revisiting and reintroducing the laws that were watered down previously regarding sedition. | Murray |
| I am afraid of the divisiveness raging rampant. | Helen |
| We need a public referendum to confirm the repeal of the Maori seats and all apartheid. We’re all one people. | Simon |
| A referendum should not really be necessary., though. Parliament can and should do it on its own. No future government will ever contemplate reintroducing such | Andy |
| And quickly. | Graham |
| It’s ridiculous that electoral power is contingent on race | Geoff |
| I have moved to Australia along with two daughters a granddaughter, great grandson,two nephews and more coming. | John |
| Thank you Einstein | Art |
| Just leave as it is. However you should be maori to be on it, not just if you feel like it | Lindsay |
| Irrefutably every person who has ever lived in NZ including Maori came here as an immigrant or a descendent thereof – no one can claim to being indigenous (always there) by definition so what do UN declarations as to rights of indigenous peoples have any relevance to NZ in any case? | Mark |
| And but quick. | Chris |
| The Maori seats have distorted the makeup of parliament, which goes against democracy and fair representation in the House. A referendum should be done ASAP! | Laurence |
| Maori seats should not exist. | NEIL |
| Absolutely, Maori have plenty of representation at all levels of local Councils and Government, special treatment is out of date and totally unnecessary | Peter |
| Repeal Maori seats | John |
| One person, one vote, not based on ‘assumed’ ethnicity. If people want to vote Maori there is the Maori Party they can choose to cast a ballot for. | John |
| Of course they should!! | Andy |
| 100%, they should have been abolished upon introducing MMP | Neil |
| The people must decide – not just the minority itself. | mary |
| Our country is supposed to be a democracy. Parliament should also present itself as democratic. | Lee |
| Well past time! | Mike |
| Time to remove racial identity as a factor relevant to voting | Ray |
| And repeal all laws with racial preferences | Murray |
| Democracy would assist the removing of racism by eliminating Maori seats. Lets have equality for the nation. Ask the populus what they believe – not iwi leaders.! Politics has lean’t too far to supporting seperatism. We now have coalition leaders who are both part Maori. It’s time to bring a referendum to see what the nation really wants: not just the loud few. | Peter |
| Yes, do it yesterday! | Roy |
| Well over due | Ray |
| We will never be one people until these Maori seats are gone. | Rex |
| They shouldn’t need to…..it has already been recommended However let the electorate decide once and for all | Owen |
| Most Definitely | Olwyn |
| Yes, absolutely, a majority voted for MMP on this basis in the 90’s. | Mark |
| Its time that race-based (racist) legislation be abolished. | Sandy |
| This may be our last chance to retain a civilised culture in NZ | Russ |
| The purpose of the Maori seats was lost when the franchise was made universal. They are now being gamed by unscrupulous vested interests in a manner that undermines our democracy. | Colin |
| I’ve written a number of letters to Luxon appealing to him to give this issue priority. | Grant |
| WITHOUT A DOUBT | David |
| Over due | Jeff |
| disband the not fit for purpose tricky treaty ASAP | chris |
| It was supposed to be part of proportional representation but the politicians of the day lost their nerve | Peter |
| Absolutely. What a complete bunch of bastards we have had over the years in our parliament. Non of them seems to know what democracy is. As David Seymour said on the TV the other night “it is undemocratic for the Waitangi Tribunal to make a decision and for Government to introduce it without consulting the electorate” jeered splenitically by Willie Jackson and Tuku Morgan. The underlying threats made by these two point to a bellicose future in NZ. For the Government to pay Maori legal Bills to challenge their own decisions is a complete nonsense. Get rid. Maori have enough money of their own. | Terry |
| We are 1 people. If these are not abolished soon, we will sink further as a nation. TPM are disruptive & a joke. | judith |
| A no brainer. Unfortunately, Luxon is not reading the room. | Robert |
| Absolutely! The Maori seats have been radicalised and are being used to destroy our democracy. The have no place in a modern New Zealand! | David |
| The Maori seats should have been eliminated when MMP was introduced. As Anthony Wily says, they are an anachronism. And they are the main reason why we will never get rid of racism in this country while they are still there. They MUST be abolished and this government represents our best chance to make that happen. | Marion |
| Yes, Yes, Yes!!! | Pete |
| All parties in the coalition have promised to abolish the Maori seats in the past. Given how dangerous they have become in the hands of the radicalised Maori Party, it is definitely time that the public had a say on their future. | Hugh |
| The Maori seats are responsible for the increasing racial divide in this country. They provide the power base for a separatist movement that is trying to destroy our democracy. They must be removed. A referendum must be held. | Simon |