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The Maori Party is a political party in New Zealand based around Maori citizens. It was launched July 7 2004, formed around Tariana Turia, a former Labour Party member who had been a minister in the current Labour dominated coalition government. The party's other leader is Pita Sharples, a high-profile Maori academic.
Formation
The catalyst for the Maori Party's creation was the foreshore and seabed controversy, a debate about whether Maori have legitimate claim to ownership of part or all of New Zealand's foreshore and seabed.
According to some, the foreshore and seabed were owned by Maori before British colonization, were not mentioned in the Treaty of Waitangi, have not been subsequently purchased or otherwise acquired by anyone else, and should therefore still be owned by Maori today. A court judgment stated that some Maori appeared to have the right to seek formal ownership of a specific portion of seabed in the Marlborough Sounds. This prospect alarmed many sectors of New Zealand society, however, and the Labour Party announced an intent to legislate in favour of state ownership instead. This angered many Maori, including many of Labour's Maori MPs. Two MPs representing Maori seats, Tariana Turia and Nanaia Mahuta, announced an intent to vote against the legislation.
Turia, a junior minister, was told that voting against the government was "incompatible" with holding ministerial rank, and on April 30 2004 she announced her intent to resign from the Labour Party. Her resignation took effect on May 17, and she left parliament until she won a by-election in her Te Tai Hauauru seat.
After leaving the Labour Party, Turia began organizing a new political party and was joined by Sharples. They and their supporters agreed that the new organization would simply be known as "the Maori Party". The chosen logo is black and red, traditional Maori colours, and incorporates a koru design, also traditional.
The leaders of the Maori Party have indicated that they wish to unite "all Maori" into a single political movement.
Prospects
The party has high hopes for the future, and has stated an intent to contest all seven Maori seats. Turia has said that the party is "attracting huge support", and said that winning the seven seats was a "realistic" goal. (In 1996, all existing Maori seats had been won by a new, partly-Maori party, New Zealand First, though it lost them at the following election.)
Many of the party's backers believe the Maori Party will be able to dominate Maori politics in the same way that Labour traditionally has.
Critics of the new party, however, have dismissed the party's chances of success. John Tamihere, when Associate Minister of Maori Affairs, attacked the Maori Party on a number of issues, saying that it is ultimately unviable. One of the main issues singled out is the broad range of opinion that the party must represent. He has also said that the party's leaders "belong to a relatively wealthy, educated elite" whose "reality is considerably removed from the overwhelming majority of Maori." Tamihere claims that issues such as health, education, and employment are all of greater interest to Maori than the comparatively academic issue of the foreshore and seabed.
The Maori Party also failed to gain the backing of Ngai Tahu, one of the most influential (and wealthy) iwi. While broadly supporting the party's policy platform, Ngai Tahu said it will not provide financial support or political endorsement. Chief executive Tahu Potiki said Ngai Tahu would never back any one party over another, including a Maori party, adding that "If you start to play the party game and start talking about loyalties, when they say something dumb, you end up with egg on your face. And it's only a matter of time before they do." [1] (http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2917943a8153,00.html)
One of the major problems for the new party is likely to be the challenge of uniting so many diverse views. Maori opinion is far from homogeneous, and finding a balance between radicals, conservatives, and moderates seems likely to prove problematic. Donna Hall (a controversial lawyer) and Titewhai Harawira (a radical activist) have both indicated an interest in the party, but the party's leadership has so far been reluctant to welcome them, apparently believing them to be too controversial. Tariana Turia, however, believes that unity can be achieved, and says that in the new Maori Party, "all Maori parties [have] come together in the spirit of unity".
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