Polls & Research

New Zealanders Divided on Maori Seats

(Angus Reid Global Scan) - Adults in New Zealand are split on whether the country should continue to elect a specific number of Maori lawmakers, according to a DigiPoll published in the New Zealand Herald. 45.2 per cent of respondents believe the practice should be abolished, while 45.9 disagree.

The House of Representatives election is scheduled for Sept. 17. Recent voting intention polls suggest a tight race between the governing Labour party of prime minister Helen Clark and the opposition National party of Don Brash.

New Zealand voters backed the mixed-member proportional voting system in a 1993 binding referendum. The rationale allocates 65 seats in the House of Representatives as first-past-the-post, and 55 seats through proportional representation party lists. Since 2002, seven seats must be filled by Maori representatives.

On Jul. 28, Brash vowed to scrap the practice, saying, "Racially-based seats will be abolished by a National government. There is a dangerous drift toward racial separatism. We must choose between a nation in which every New Zealander is equal before the law, regardless of race, and a nation which is on the slippery slope to separatism." 78.8 per cent of respondents believe all New Zealanders should have a say in the future of the Maori seats.

Also on Aug. 29, Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples said the political organization would not work with National, saying, "The (Treaty of Waitangi) was written by 150,000 Maori and 2,000 Pakeha, prescribing a formula for living together, and prescribing a set of rights by which Europeans can settle in this country. Why suddenly are they turning it around now that the Pakeha numbers are larger, and does that mean, if we get rid of the treaty, get rid of the settling rights of the European settlers that came here as well?"

Polling Data

Do you think the Maori seats in the House of Representatives should be abolished?

Who should decide the future of these seats?