What we have learned as Maori wards votes soon end

We’re into the last week of the Maori wards debate and what have we learned?

1.Only 55 percent of Maori voters are on the Maori roll, which means that 45 percent of Maori voters would vote on the general roll in council elections.

2.Maori roll voters have not been consulted on whether or not they want a Maori ward. The only consultation is by way of the current vote which has been brought about by concerned residents in five districts.

3.Maori wards give Maori roll voters a limited choice.

In Palmerston North, with city-wide voting Maori roll voters would have a choice of just two councillors and general roll voters would have a choice of 13.

In Western Bay of Plenty, Maori roll voters in a Maori ward would get to vote for one councillor while general roll voters would get to vote for three of the 10 general councillors in each of the three general wards.

4.The mainly non-Maori councillors who voted to proceed with Maori wards in Palmerston North, Manawatu, Western Bay of Plenty, Whakatane, and Kaikoura appear to be motivated by a quaint type of paternalism and don’t appear to understand that a race-based ward is by definition racist.

5.The few Maori proponents of Maori wards try to argue that Maori wards have nothing to do with race and are instead treaty based. But these people can’t show how Maori wards derive from the Treaty of Waitangi.

6.These Maori proponents discount the presence of numerous Maori currently sitting on councils around New Zealand by saying they are not representing the “Maori voice”. But these people can’t say what the “Maori voice” wants to say.

7.The non-Maori wife of a Maori person standing in a Maori ward could not vote for him although their children could.

Voting in the five districts closes on Saturday. If you get to vote, please vote against Maori wards.

Exodus from Maori roll gathers pace

An exodus of 7093 voters from the Maori roll in the current Maori Electoral Option has so far had a net effect of 2052 fewer voters on the Maori roll.

The exodus is happening during a vote on Maori wards in five districts and after Te Tai Tonga MP Rino Tirikatene’s Electoral Entrenchment of Maori Seats Amendment Bill was drawn from the ballot.

The exodus prompted New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters to say that "despite enormous publicity, Maori people are voting with their feet. Maori people see us as one country despite our various historical and cultural backgrounds".

Mr Peters said: "They have seen a massive increase in Maori representation under MMP, and they acknowledge it. After all, the Royal Commission said in time, MMP would prove to the Maori people that this was a better form of representation." See http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/politics/peters-says-maori-roll-not-needed-under-mmp/.WvVEJGbKKj8.facebook

Further updates on the Maori Electoral Option, which is open until August 2, will be posted at http://www.elections.org.nz/events/maori-electoral-option-2018/results-statistics on June 1 and July 2.

The May 1 update revealed that 7093 have since April 3 moved from the Maori roll to the general roll, 4610 have moved from the general roll to the Maori roll, there were 215 new enrolments of Maori descent to the general roll, 431 new enrolments to the Maori roll, having a net impact on the Maori roll of minus 2052, and a net impact on the general roll of plus 2698.