Written By: - Date published: 3:58 pm, October 23rd, 2008 - 75 comments
Categories: election 2008, maori party, national, slippery -
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I’ve always regarded the possibility of a National-Maori Party governing arrangement as absurd, even grotesque. The interests of the Maori people, who are predominantly working-class, are clearly best represented by the Left.
Under National in the 1990s, Maori unemployment reached 25% and incomes plummeted. Today it is 7.7%, and Maori incomes are rising as fast as other groups, albeit from a lower base. Maori would be among those to suffer most from National’s anti-worker, anti-poor policies. Indeed, many Maori (those on incomes between $14,000 and $24,000, those on a benefit or receiving Working for Families, and those in Kiwisaver) would pay more tax under National than they would under Labour. The Maori Party’s leadership universally comes from a left-wing, often extreme Left, background with a natural distrust of right-wing politics (Hone Harawira calls John Key a smiling snake). Their supporters overwhelming favour a Labour-led government and most will give their party votes to Labour. Only Tariana Turia, deluded Nats, and the more excitable journos ever thought there could be a deal with National. Even they have now woken up.
I think it’s interesting to remember how the myth of a possible coalition was destroyed.
In private meetings, John Key made a secret concession to Pita Sharples: National would be willing to drop its policy to abolish the Maori seats. That was incredibly foolish of Key, he effectively handed one of his best bargaining chips over to Sharples, he didn’t gain anything in return for this secret concession, apparently, and he put himself at the mercy of Sharples, who could now reveal this politically damaging double-dealing by Key whenever he wanted. Sharples didn’t have to reveal Key’s concession, he could have kept it to himself, but he repeatedly reported it in the media. What interest could Sharples have had in doing that? Only undermining the prospects of a National-led government and a National-Maori Party coalition. Key got played for a sucker by Sharples. His response, calling Sharples a liar and repudiating the deal, just made things worse.
The Maori Party’s choice to follow up on the debacle by making entrenchment of the Maori seats a bottom-line, Sharples’ comments that he would prefer to work with Labour, and Lockwood Smith’s racist comments just hammered the final nails into the coffin. But it was Sharples who chose to put the chance of a deal in the coffin in the first place.
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Scoopit!
Why does FD think I’m Heather Simpson?
IT: Because you disagree with him, and are therefore a freedom-hating stalinist dyke. Notwithstanding that HS is neither.
L
Labour has no entrenched right to their claim of special relationship with Maori in general, and in fact their lack of relationship was the cause of the breakaway to form the Maori Party.
If the Maori Party have the chance to gain Ministerial influence under a Key led government, in say a Welfare portfolio, they would be simply crazy not to take it. In terms of what could be achieved in real terms, in Mana enhancement and in the long-term in terms of Party growing, I fail to see how staying on the cross benches would be an alternative.
Akldnut
Yes of course I know that Tariana began her political career as a labour list MP and very familiar with the reasons why the Maori party was formed. Hence the reason for her very obvious preference for working with National.
Ohdear
I think it will be a big mistake for the Maori Party to prop up a national government, because it will lesson their chances next election. I hope the parties goal is not to control the welfare purse strings. If that is the case then that represents a shift in master, rather that getting at the core areas of social and economic development. Nationals Industrial, justice, privitisation agenda will do Maori no favours and that will become apparent in time. The policy to abolish the Maori seats, signals Nationals long term agenda to undermine maori influence in parliament. Given the MP have removed all bottom lines, they will be better placed by maintaining their independant voice in parliament and voting as such.
ohdear: The arrangement you describe implies a cabinet position: there’s a major problem with that – collective responsibility. If the mÄori party are in cabinet they’ll be whipped, they’ll have to sign their name to the entire government agenda, and before that’ll happen, the new government will have to rule out a bunch of things – scrapping the mÄori seats, for one; there’ll be a lot of other legislation they will want to circumscribe. I see a faint change of a minister outside cabinet, but I think it’s more likely we’ll see a relationship like Labour had with the Greens in the last term.
We’ll see.
L