• Full Story

Maori Party's vulnerability exposed

Email
Print

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:55p.m.

Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia speaks to the media

Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia speaks to the media

By Peter Wilson

The Maori Party's vulnerability was brutally exposed this week.

In the political landscape shaped by last November's election it's easy prey for enemies who weren't there before.

The Mana Party and New Zealand First lurk on the opposition benches, determined to expose its close links with the government, usurp its role as the guardian of Maori interests and show it to be weak and ineffective.

The Maori Party has renewed an agreement which commits it to supporting the government on confidence votes in parliament. In return, co-leaders Pita Sharples and Tariana Turia hold ministerial portfolios.

During National's first term, that didn't present problems. Labour largely ignored it and the Greens agreed with most of its policies.

Now there is fierce rivalry. Neither Mana nor NZ First have support agreements, they have nothing to lose and they're free to demonise the Maori Party over anything the government does that upsets Maori.

That's what happened over asset sales and whether or not four power companies that are going to be partially sold would be covered by Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation.

Mana's Hone Harawira began with a raving attack on the Maori Party which he claimed was doing nothing to stop ministers removing treaty clauses from the State-owned Enterprises Act.

What they were actually doing was preparing to take the companies out of the Act because shares in them can't be sold while they're still in it.

Sharples and Turia, acutely aware of the danger Mana presents to its voter base, reacted by threatening to pull out of their support agreement unless all future shareholders in the power companies were put under treaty obligations.

That was a breathtaking over-reaction and ministers knew it, but they also knew the Maori Party co-leaders were being forced into a corner by Harawira and NZ First leader Winston Peters.

This was taking place amid confusion over what the treaty clauses actually meant, whether or not shareholders could be bound by them, what the Maori Party expected the government to do and how far ministers were prepared to go to defuse the row.

Harawira wasn't bothered by details - the government was going to "scrap the Treaty of Waitangi" and its Maori Party partners were meekly going along with it.

Senior ministers called three press conferences as they tried to extricate the Maori Party from its plight.

Finance Minister Bill English explained it wasn't possible to do what the Maori Party wanted because there's no way private individuals can be bound by treaty obligations.

Those obligations are to consult Maori about anything that happens to state-owned assets, which is isn't a problem when the government owns them.

But when 49 percent is owned by private shareholders, it doesn't work.

A solution has been found which ministers will put to iwi leaders during consultation hui over the next two weeks. A law can be drafted which puts treaty obligations on the government as the 51 percent shareholder of the power companies but not on private shareholders.

After that had been explained to Sharples and Turia during high-level meetings, they backed away from their threat to quit the support agreement.

And Harawira had found something else to beat Sharples with. He's minister of Maori affairs and his department, Te Puni Kokiri, is going to be restructured with the likely loss of 50 jobs.

"He's gutting the only department that Maori ever had faith in, it's going to be the Maori Party's everlasting legacy," Harawira claimed.

The best Sharples could do was say it was "an operational matter" and final decisions hadn't been taken.

This is going to happen again and again over the next three years. Every time the government does anything Harawira perceives as being detrimental to Maori - which is just about everything - he'll ferociously attack the Maori Party.

Peters will be stirring from the sidelines, looking for anything that serves his own interests and trying to drive a wedge between the party and the government.

The Mana Party seriously eroded the Maori Party's vote last November. Between now and the next election in 2014, Sharples and Turia will have to fight for their political lives and their party's future.

NZN

Become a fan of 3 News on Facebook and on Twitter.

Post a Comment

Before commenting, please take the time to read our moderation guide


(Won't be published)



Comments

07 Feb 2012 10:20p.m.

Michael wrote:

The National Maori agreement says "The National Party and the Maori Party will act in accordance with Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Treaty of Waitangi" - so National's wish to remove the treaty clause blows that agreememt out of the water. See it at www.national.org.nz/PDF_Government/Maori_Party_agreement-11_Dec.pdf

05 Feb 2012 01:29p.m.

Bryan wrote:

So Harawira 'raves' and English 'explains'? How fair and balanced! There's prob more truth in what Harawira has to say - the proposed changes contradict the essence of how the Treaty has come to be used & interpreted, whereas the only thing stopping retention of the clause is how it would be priced in by the markets.

05 Feb 2012 08:35a.m.

atrout wrote:

This charade of the agreement between the Maori Party and National should fool no-one. The Maori Party is not vulnerable in the slightest. This whole show is for Waitangi Day. Key has to push the privatization issue of SOEs and the Maori Party has to protest in outrage. Key will come back with a meaningless compromise drafted by Bill English and the Maori Party then backs off. Key has to go through the silly Punch and Judy show of being escorted by Hone's Mom. abused by a few others and then everyone is happy- more or less. The irony of Key being escorted by Hone's Mom should be lost on no-one. It is nothing short of a joke. The fact that the PM's job description also includes and annual fake humiliation probably means that there are probably some potential politicians who have enough pride to not subject themselves to this ritual. It is bizarre that we retain such a farce in a modern democracy but we have grown used to it if perhaps a little less tolerant of such an national embarrassment.

04 Feb 2012 06:22p.m.

Mike wrote:

Maori in NZ have sold the same thing over and over again. This goes to land sales pre-treaty where Maori sold more land than NZ has twice over.

The treaty was a solution that gave the crown control of land sales and stopped settlers buying from Maori. this stopped dishonest both sides. The treaty made Maori british subjects and gave them the rights of british subjects.

The interpretation of the treaty today is pure racism and the treaty should be burnt. We should not be having one law for one race and another for every other race.

Nothing in the treaty says Maori should be paid social welfare - so if you want to insist on upholding the document we should stop all eligibility of Maori for welfare - this is no more or less extreme than the claims being made by Maori under the treaty!

Nowhere in the treaty does it say Maori will have the right to vote so not only should they have no racist maori seats, under the treaty they should have no rights to vote as the treaty didn't cover such ideas as Maori voting.

Personally I think ALL New Zealanders should be treated equally regardless of race, and be subject to the same laws. We need to get rid of the racist laws and documents.

South Africa had racist laws and documents, so there they had a 'tradition' of racism too. But they threw out the racist laws and nolonger tolerate legislated racism like we have in NZ.

If we stopped paying all welfare to maori and their families who are represented on the maori rolls, maybe we could turn eliminate our countries deficit this year? Welfare payments were not covered in the treaty so shouldn't be paid if you want to stick to the maori interpretation of the treaty being used today.

Take 27 years after the treaty when Alaska was purchased for under $0.02 per acre - land was cheap back then so we should not use todays prices. Maori also used the right of conquest to determine ownership so the treaty saved a lot of Maori from being killed by the british red coats.

03 Feb 2012 09:49p.m.

shelleyk wrote:

i admire bothe hone harawira and winston peters and also hold much respect for peter sharples, i beleive that we should all pull together as natives too this country this is a classic colonisation tactic national kept the maori party last term of govt busy with saebed and foreshore issues which were supposed have been agreed upon before they came into power , while this was going on nobodoy had time too adress the other issues facing our country this was tactical on nationals part, hone harawira had a list of 21 ways too take away maori rights which every maori should read, this outlines every tactic used this is what is going on right now, we need too just keep too our kaupapa as a people implement options too support our way of life, stand as one not divided, the maori party has done the best they can with what John keyes has had too allow them it is hard too notice the change the maori party has tried too make but like everything maori, are given, the moment it is seen too be successful the govt will portray a vision that it is another failed venture, they could not overcome the maori during colonisation our culture survived but they also knew then we were becoming stronger as a people and they had to be seen as supporting this because they knew by there own laws they had stolen what they had obtained and we were becoming too powerful, in the background they already had a plan too allow migration into the country give them the right too vote and maori will be minority this is whAT WINSTON PETERS has been saying needs too be taken seriously since i was a kid now look the foreign voters out weighed actual nz born voters of a population of 4million 3million are foreign clever a on the govt dept it is easy too convince a greencard too sway your way they have something too loose, you would actually have to do what you say if the
majority were actual newzealanderss John Keyes done his homework all his moves seem too be working out kiaora e nga matua come togther

03 Feb 2012 01:17p.m.

Erm... wrote:

That's MMP politics for you, folks...