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Maori politics is the politics of the Maori people, who were the original inhabitants of New Zealand and who are now the country's largest minority. Modern Maori politics can be seen as a subset of New Zealand politics in general, but has a number of distinguishing features.
Pre-colonial Maori governance
Before the arrival of pakeha (European settlers) in New Zealand, Maori society was based largely around tribal units. The largest affiliation was the waka, based on descent from the various groups which had originally settled New Zealand. The waka did not have a great deal of impact on every-day life, however. The next division was the iwi (generally translated as "tribe"), but despite the importance of the iwi in modern Maori society, it was usually the hapu ("sub-tribe") which had the most direct power. The hapu were responsible for administering resources, land, and important community buildings, and were also responsible for warfare (particularly maintaining the waka, or war canoes). The iwi typically functioned more as a federation than as an administrative structure.
Political leadership in traditional Maori society could come from two different groups of people — the ariki and the rangatira. The ariki, who led the iwi, gained authority from their genealogy, inheriting their positions from their forebears — the more distinguished an ariki's ancestors, the more distinguished the ariki. Ariki were usually male, but female leaders (ariki tapairu) could also exist. Below the ariki were the rangatira, who were the aristocracy of Maori society. Each hapu was led by a senior rangatira. A person could be accorded the title of rangatira in two basic ways — if they were a child of an ariki, or if they were simply acknowledged as a significant figure in the governance of a hapu. Rangatira could be either male or female.
Entry of Maori to colonial politics
The Treaty of Waitangi, signed between various Maori iwi and the British crown, had the practical effect of transferring sovereignty to the United Kingdom. (It is debated as to whether this was the intent of the Maori, and whether this was what the treaty actually said.) Maori were theoretically granted all the rights of British subjects.
As settlement increased, the colonists became increasingly vocal in their call for self-government. Eventually, in 1852, the British government passed the New Zealand Constitution Act, establishing an elected New Zealand Parliament. Responsible government, where this Parliament had the authority to appoint Cabinet, was achieved a few years later. At first, Maori had little interest in the new Parliament, seeing it as a pakeha institution with no real relevance to them. Later, however, there was an increasing desire by Maori to participate in Parliament — the Maori Wars of the 1860s, coupled with ongoing land seizures, convinced many Maori that the "settler Parliament" now had a major impact on them, and that their voices needed to be heard in it.
In theory, there was never any law barring Maori from election to Parliament, nor barring them from voting. In practice, however, other laws made it virtually impossible. The major stumbling block was the property qualification, which required voters to own a certain amount of land. While Maori owned a large portion of New Zealand, most of this was held in common, not under individual title. As such, few individual Maori met the property requirement personally — even if they were part-owners of vast amounts of land, they did not have any land which they owned exclusively, and so did not qualify to vote.
In 1867, however, Parliament passed the Maori Representation Act, which created four special seats for Maori. These seats did not have a property qualification. The creation of the seats was controversial, being opposed by those pakeha who saw Maori as uncivilised. It was also opposed by a small group which felt that by creating separate Maori seats, Maori would be sidelined, as pakeha politicians would not have to consult Maori opinion as they would if Maori voted in general electorates. There was also debate about the number of seats — if Maori had been given a number of seats equivalent to their population, they would have had around fifteen seats, not four. One of the more radical MPs in Parliament, James FitzGerald, actually called for Maori to be given a third of the seats in Parliament, but this was widely seen as excessive. In the end, the seats were approved based mainly on a desire to improve relations with Maori and reduce military conflict. The first Maori MPs took their seats in 1868.
It was intended that these seats would eventually be abolished as Maori abandoned traditional land ownership traditions. In the end, however, the seats were retained, and still exist today. There have, over the years, been a number of attempts to abolish them, with a number of different reasons being given — some said that reserving seats was unfair, while others said that keeping Maori seats separate meant that Maori were marginalised and ignored by mainstream politicians. Many Maori politicians defended the seats, saying that they were necessary to ensure Maori representation in Parliament. Other Maori leaders, however, said that the seats were not required — there have been Maori politicians who have gained election in non-Maori seats.
Maori in mainstream parties
When Maori MPs were first elected to Parliament, there were no formal political parties in New Zealand. After the Liberal Party was founded, however, it gained the support of a number of prominent Maori figures. The most well known Maori to serve as a Liberal MP was Apirana Ngata, who rose high within the Liberal Party's hierarchy. Ngata is said by many to be the most prominent Maori MP ever, and he is featured on New Zealand's fifty-dollar bill. The Liberal Party did not have an exclusive control of the Maori seats, however — Maui Pomare, another prominent Maori politician, was a member of the conservative Reform Party.
In the 1930s, new movements began to arise in Maori politics. In particular, the Ratana church expanded its political participation, standing candidates for Parliament. In the 1935 elections, Ratana won two of the four Maori seats. The Ratana MPs did not remain independent for long, however — they quickly merged into the Labour Party, which they saw as best addressing Maori needs. Later, the Labour/Ratana alliance won the remaining two seats, establishing a pattern of dominance that many people thought was unbreakable. Among the most prominent Maori MPs in the Labour Party were Eruera Tirikatene and his daughter, Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan — both served in Parliament for several decades.
Despite Labour's dominance of the Maori vote, the National Party, Labour's main opponent, occasionally elected Maori MPs in general seats. Ben Couch, elected in Wairarapa, was Maori, and Winston Peters, elected in Tauranga, is half Maori.
In the 1996 elections, a major shift in Maori politics occurred when Labour lost all the Maori seats (of which there were now five) to the New Zealand First party. New Zealand First, while not a Maori party, has a strong Maori wing, and its leader, Winston Peters (originally of the National Party), is half Maori. New Zealand First's clean sweep of the Maori seats surprised many observers, who had believed that Labour's grip was too strong to be broken. In the 1999 elections, Labour won all the Maori seats back again, but the traditional Maori allegiance to Labour has been re-evaluated — Labour cannot, most observers say, simply take Maori support for granted.
Since the advent of the MMP electoral system, Maori representation in Parliament has increased — Maori are able to be elected as list MPs, bypassing the problem of securing an electorate. This has been particularly noticeable in parties which have traditionally contained few Maori — MPs such as Georgina Te Heuheu in the National Party and Donna Awatere Huata in the ACT party are not likely to have entered Parliament without MMP, given the difficulty that their parties would face contesting the Maori electorates. At present, there are ten Maori electorate MPs (seven in Maori seats and three in general seats) and nine Maori list MPs. Maori make up around 16% of Parliament, slightly higher than their proportion of the population. The introduction of MMP brought further calls for the abolition of the Maori seats, which many deemed unnecessary in the new system.
Maori parties
Throughout the history of Maori participation in mainstream parties, there have been those who argue that Maori cannot truly be represented unless they have a separate group. In recent years, with the resurgence of Maori culture, these calls have increased. In 1979, a Labour MP, Matiu Rata, quit the party to form his own group, saying that Maori could not succeed if they were simply a component of a larger group. Later, Tuariki Delamere would say much the same thing, claiming that "you cannot be accountable to Maori if your first allegiance is to a political vehicle that is owned and controlled by Pakeha." Most recently, Tariana Turia has broken from the Labour Party to co-found the new Maori Party, which has high hopes of winning the Maori seats in the next election.
Below are some of the parties which have been based around Maori voters, or which are sometimes seen as such.
Mana Motuhake
Mana Motuhake, roughly translated as "self-government", was founded in 1979 as an independent Maori party by Labour MP Matiu Rata. Rata resigned from Parliament to contest a by-election under Mana Motuhake's banner, but was not re-elected. The party tried for some time to win the Maori seats, but was never elected to Parliament. In 1991, Mana Motuhake joined the Alliance, a broad left-wing coalition. Under the Alliance, several Mana Motuhake members, including Sandra Lee and Willie Jackson, were elected to Parliament. When the Alliance split, Mana Motuhake remained with the hardline faction, which failed to retain any seats in Parliament. Mana Motuhake has since left the Alliance.
Mana Maori Movement
The Mana Maori Movement was founded by Eva Rickard, a former candidate of Mana Motuhake. Rickard objected to the decision by Mana Motuhake to join the Alliance, believing that a completely independent Maori party was required. Mana Maori contested the Maori seats, but never won a place in Parliament. In the most recent elections, it worked in coalition with Te Tawharau and Piri Wiri Tua.
Mana Wahine
Mana Wahine Te Ira Tangata, founded by former Alliance (Mana Motuhake) MP Alamein Kopu, stated its goal as promoting and protecting the interests of Maori women. Many of its opponents, however, claimed that the party was born out of Kopu's "opportunism", and denied that it had any real ideological commitment. Kopu was not re-elected.
Mauri Pacific
Mauri Pacific, founded by five former New Zealand First MPs, denied that it was a Maori party, saying instead that it was merely "multiculturalist". It did, however, have policies that were strongly favourable towards Maori, and three of its five MPs (including its leader) were of Maori descent. This contributed to a widespread perception of it as a Maori party. The similarity of "Mauri" and "Maori" likely strengthened this view, although the words are unrelated. None of the party's MPs were re-elected, and it has since dissolved.
Te Tawharau
Te Tawharau is a small Maori party which briefly held a seat in Parliament when Tuariki Delamere, a former New Zealand First MP, joined it. Delamere believed that an independent Maori voice was essential, saying that New Zealand First had tried and failed to balance Maori interests with other concerns. Delamere was not re-elected.
Piri Wiri Tua
Piri Wiri Tua is a small party based around the teachings of the Ratana church.
Maori Party
The Maori Party is the newest Maori political organisation, and is currently the best performing. It was founded around Tariana Turia, a Labour MP who quit her party over the foreshore and seabed controversy, which Turia claims is seeing Maori deprived of their rights. Another prominent figure in the Maori Party is Pita Sharples, a Maori academic. The Maori Party believes that it can win all seven Maori seats in the next election, and hopes to hold the balance of power.
Maori politicians
- Awatere Huata, Donna
- Beyer, Georgina
- Buck, Te Rangi Hiroa Peter
- Carroll, James
- Couch, Ben
- Delamere, Tuariki
- Gregory, Bruce
- Gudgeon, Bill
- Hawke, Joe
- Henare, Taurekareka (Tau)
- Henare, Tau
- Hereora, Dave
- Horomia, Parekura
- Kopu, Alamein
- Jackson, Willie
- Lee, Sandra
- Mahuta, Nanaia
- Mark, Ron
- Morgan, Tuku
- Ngata, Apirana
- Okeroa, Mahara
- Paraone, Pita
- Parata, Hekia
- Perry, Edwin
- Peters, Ian
- Peters, Jim
- Peters, Winston
- Pettis, Jill
- Pomare, Maui
- Rata, Matiu
- Rickard, Eva
- Ririnui, Mita
- Samuels, Dover
- Sharples, Pita
- Tamihere, John
- Te Heuheu, Georgina
- Tirikatene, Eruera
- Tirikatene-Sullivan, Whetu
- Turei, Metiria
- Turia, Tariana
- Waitai, Rana
- Wetere, Koro
- Wyllie, Tu
Terminology used in Maori politics
- Mana - prestige, honour, respect, dignity, integrity (see mana)
- Mana motuhake - self-government, autonomy
- Kotahitanga - unity, co-operation
- Pakeha - people of European descent, non-Maori (see pakeha)
- Rangatiratanga - chieftainship, sovereignty
- Te Tiriti - the Treaty of Waitangi
- Tangata whenua - "people of the land"; indigenous people, Maori
- Tikanga Maori - the Maori way (see tikanga Maori)
- Waka Maori - a Maori political vehicle
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