This is a petition calling for the abolition of the Maori seats.

If you support the abolition of the Maori seats please sign the petition and call on others to support this campaign too.

The 1986 Royal Commission on the Electoral System recommended abolishing the Maori seats if MMP was introduced. The MMP legislation was drafted with no provisions for the Maori seats but as a result of strong lobbying by Maori leaders, the seats were re-instated.

The Royal Commission’s recommendation from their report says:

There’s a public expectation that the Maori seats will be removed once Treaty settlements are completed. With South Island claims now settled, and the remainder scheduled over the next three years, Election 2017 could be the first election in almost 150 years where all New Zealanders are on the same electoral roll.

In the run-up to the 2011 election the National Party promised: “At the conclusion of the settlement of historic Treaty claims, National will begin a constitutional process to abolish the Maori seats. National wishes to see all New Zealanders on the same electoral roll.”

National should be encouraged to campaign on this same policy in the lead up to the 2014 election. Other parties should be encouraged to adopt similar policies. If enough New Zealanders believe it is time for the Maori seats to be abolished, politicians will listen.

If you support the abolition of the Maori seats please sign the petition and call on others to support this campaign too.

A comprehensive paper, The Maori Seats in Parliament by Professor Philip Joseph of Canterbury University can be read HERE. An NZCPR background article from 2013, Have your say on the future of the Maori Seats, can be read HERE, and a more recent paper, Maori Seats Undermine Democracy, can be read HERE. A summary issues paper can be seen below.