There are many reasons to get rid of Māori seats from Parliament, but the best reason is simply that we don't need them. Just look around the debating chamber and it is easy to find accomplished Māori leaders sitting in seats that they won in their own right. Whether they won an electorate or worked their way up their party list, they did not need a special seat reserved for them because of their race.

The views of Māori in New Zealand Parliament are as diverse as any other group. James Meager, Tamatha Paul, Arena Williams, and David Seymour all have Māori heritage and all won general electorate seats. Winston Peters and Willie Jackson stand on opposite sides of the House as senior list MPs for their parties. It is undeniable that Māori do not need a leg up to get proportionate representation. 

That is why it is time to call it a day on Māori seats. This term of Parliament has demonstrated that they serve only to reserve a spot for the most extreme activists rather than provide representation for ordinary Māori families. Te Pāti Māori has put the final nail in the coffin of Māori Seats with their hateful rhetoric and disrespectful antics. They loathe everything about our Parliament and what it stands for. They take every opportunity to undermine the idea that we are all New Zealanders.

Enough is enough. No more Māori Seats.

Sign the petition to demand that Māori Seats be abolished.