Perhaps because she is not too flash at winning elections by attracting sufficient votes, the Green Party’s Hūhana Lyndon is aiming to stack the deck in favour of Māori politicians and voters.
The Green Party today announced a member’s bill, in her name, to entrench Māori seats in law.
Announcing this news, she sounded an ominous warning that there’s more to come:
“Entrenching Māori seats in law is only a start, but a necessary one,” says the Green Party’s Māori Development spokesperson, Hūhana Lyndon.
“A thriving democracy, one which we can all be proud of, requires that all people participate in ways that make sense to them. Entrenching Māori seats protects that right for generations to come.”
The Treaty of Waitangi, of course, looms large in her considerations.
She insists that the coalition government is making “every possible attempt to undermine te Tiriti and Māori voices” – therefore “the time is now to implement independent recommendations to protect and strengthen the Māori roll”.
This Treaty-brandishing electoral-law crusader is a list MP.
Our Google search suggests she has stood at least twice in local government elections.
When she contested a 2017 by-election for the Denby Ward of the Whangārei District Council, she finished in fifth place.
She came third when she stood as a candidate in Tai Tokerau at the 2023 general election, behind the Maori Party’s Mariameno Kapa-Kingi (10,426 votes) and Labour’s Kelvin Davis (9911 votes).
She mustered 4187 votes, thereby beating the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party candidate (1923 votes) into third place.
During the 2025 New Zealand local body elections, Lyndon was an active advocate for the retention of Māori Wards.
The private member’s Bill she is sponsoring would:
That means any Government could repeal the Māori electorates with a simple majority, without even a referendum, she wails.
But establishing Māori wards without a referendum is exactly what many local authorities have done in recent years – and PoO does not recall her raising objections on those occasions.
Citizens did get to vote on those arrangements at the local body elections this year, and more than half of the councils which held referendums on Māori wards voted to remove them.
As for the right to switch rolls, Lyndon notes that Māori are only allowed to switch rolls outside of the three months before a general or local election.
She complains:
“This is a barrier for thousands of Māori to participate in our electoral system, on the correct roll of their choice. “
But non-Māori voters have no options: they must enrol on the general roll.
Lydon further contends that “councils up and down Aotearoa are embracing Māori wards, but whether you vote in the Māori ward or a General ward depends on whether you’re enrolled to vote in the Māori electorates of the General electorates”.
The experience at the recent local body elections suggests the embrace is not as warm as she would have us believe.
Lyndon makes much of the need to enhance the privilege which enables Māori to switch rolls (but not readily enough for her liking), then argues:
“What we do with our democracy matters, who we shut out and who we afford special privileges shape the decisions made in Parliament and the direction this country is taken in.
“With the coalition making every possible attempt to undermine te Tiriti and Māori voices, the time is now to implement independent recommendations to protect and strengthen the Māori roll.”
Or strengthen the power of Māori voters.
“It is high time that Luxon stood up for the good of our nation and upheld the dignity, meaning and integrity of our founding agreements. As such, I look forward to his support for this Bill,” says Hūhana Lyndon.
Hmm.
The way he handled the Waitangi Principles Bill, ensuring it went no further than a first reading and select committee hearing, suggests maybe she should be more confident of securing his support.
But no specific clause of the Treaty of Waitangi directly provides for Māori electorates.
They were established through the Māori Representation Act 1867.
The seats were intended to be a temporary five-year measure but were made permanent in 1876.
Contrary to Lyndon’s concerns about their vulnerability, they have been hard to eradicate.
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.
“Entrenching Māori seats in law is only a start, but a necessary one,” says the Green Party’s Māori Development spokesperson, Hūhana Lyndon.
“A thriving democracy, one which we can all be proud of, requires that all people participate in ways that make sense to them. Entrenching Māori seats protects that right for generations to come.”
The Treaty of Waitangi, of course, looms large in her considerations.
She insists that the coalition government is making “every possible attempt to undermine te Tiriti and Māori voices” – therefore “the time is now to implement independent recommendations to protect and strengthen the Māori roll”.
This Treaty-brandishing electoral-law crusader is a list MP.
Our Google search suggests she has stood at least twice in local government elections.
When she contested a 2017 by-election for the Denby Ward of the Whangārei District Council, she finished in fifth place.
She came third when she stood as a candidate in Tai Tokerau at the 2023 general election, behind the Maori Party’s Mariameno Kapa-Kingi (10,426 votes) and Labour’s Kelvin Davis (9911 votes).
She mustered 4187 votes, thereby beating the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party candidate (1923 votes) into third place.
During the 2025 New Zealand local body elections, Lyndon was an active advocate for the retention of Māori Wards.
The private member’s Bill she is sponsoring would:
- Entrench the Māori seats in legislation, just like the general seats, “so they can’t be easily repealed (without a 75% majority)”.
- Allow Māori to switch rolls at any time, not just outside of the “election season”.
- Enhance the Māori electoral option by allowing Māori voters to be on one roll for general elections, and on the other roll for local elections.
That means any Government could repeal the Māori electorates with a simple majority, without even a referendum, she wails.
But establishing Māori wards without a referendum is exactly what many local authorities have done in recent years – and PoO does not recall her raising objections on those occasions.
Citizens did get to vote on those arrangements at the local body elections this year, and more than half of the councils which held referendums on Māori wards voted to remove them.
As for the right to switch rolls, Lyndon notes that Māori are only allowed to switch rolls outside of the three months before a general or local election.
She complains:
“This is a barrier for thousands of Māori to participate in our electoral system, on the correct roll of their choice. “
But non-Māori voters have no options: they must enrol on the general roll.
Lydon further contends that “councils up and down Aotearoa are embracing Māori wards, but whether you vote in the Māori ward or a General ward depends on whether you’re enrolled to vote in the Māori electorates of the General electorates”.
The experience at the recent local body elections suggests the embrace is not as warm as she would have us believe.
Lyndon makes much of the need to enhance the privilege which enables Māori to switch rolls (but not readily enough for her liking), then argues:
“What we do with our democracy matters, who we shut out and who we afford special privileges shape the decisions made in Parliament and the direction this country is taken in.
“With the coalition making every possible attempt to undermine te Tiriti and Māori voices, the time is now to implement independent recommendations to protect and strengthen the Māori roll.”
Or strengthen the power of Māori voters.
“It is high time that Luxon stood up for the good of our nation and upheld the dignity, meaning and integrity of our founding agreements. As such, I look forward to his support for this Bill,” says Hūhana Lyndon.
Hmm.
The way he handled the Waitangi Principles Bill, ensuring it went no further than a first reading and select committee hearing, suggests maybe she should be more confident of securing his support.
But no specific clause of the Treaty of Waitangi directly provides for Māori electorates.
They were established through the Māori Representation Act 1867.
The seats were intended to be a temporary five-year measure but were made permanent in 1876.
Contrary to Lyndon’s concerns about their vulnerability, they have been hard to eradicate.
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.
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