A headline on The Spinoff today stated the obvious:
Nicole McKee’s new Act leadership role means record Māori party leaders – but no one Māori voice
The article beneath was triggered by news that Nicole McKee has become the Act Party’s new deputy leader. Both minor parties in the coalition government therefore have leaders and deputy leaders “who whakapapa Māori”.
McKee joins Act Party leader David Seymour, who has Māori ancestry, while New Zealand First is led by Winston Peters and deputy Shane Jones, who are both Māori.
On the other side of the House of Representatives, Greens co-leader Marama Davidson is Māori and Rāwiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer lead The Maori Party.
Seven of the 12 party leaders and deputies in Parliament have Māori ancestry.
The Spinoff’s Atea editor Liam Ratana declares:
Whatever your views of the individuals, it’s a significant achievement for Māoridom.
He then asks:
But will that be the focus or are we in for more arguments – and insults – about who represents Māori and who doesn’t?
This brings into considerations the dubious notion that there can be – or should be – a single political Māori voice.
As Ratana rightly recognises, Māori representation – just the same as non-Maori representation – spans the political spectrum, from left to right.
Thirty-three MPs of Māori descent sit across six different parties in the 54th Parliament.
Because Māori are not a single homogenous group, different factions champion vastly different social and economic aspirations and Māori political voices hold varying and sometimes conflicting ideologies.
Nobody should be surprised.
What we should brace for is more of the racist ruse of vilifying a political opponent for not being sufficiently Maori.
Ratana recalls:
In 2024, Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clark famously said to Peters: “Moumou tō toto Māori (Your Māori blood is a waste).” While Peters has thrown his own insults before (he referred to Rawiri Waititi’s traditional tā moko as “scribbles on his face”), it’s hard to see Maipi-Clark’s comment as anything other than diminishing the mana of not only Peters, but of all his whānau and tūpuna too.
The fledgling MP is far from the first to accuse another Māori politician of not being Māori enough or not the right kind of Māori. In 2022 Labour’s Willie Jackson called Seymour a “useless Māori”, and more recently Māori development minister Tama Potaka has found himself denying he’s part of an anti-Māori government. While recent insults and accusations have come against a backdrop of anger at the government – some political commentators have labelled the coalition “the most overtly racist government we’ve seen in recent decades” – is it ever fair to diminish a politician’s whakapapa?
Shane Jones doesn’t think so. “I don’t believe in this notion [that] just because I have a different idea than the majority of your viewers, that somehow makes me less Māori than you. Be a long day in hell before I’ll agree with that,” Jones said in an interview on Te Ao with Moana last year.
Ratana also recalls that McKee looked like she was trying to get ahead of any battles about how her whakapapa gelled with her political beliefs from the outset.
“I am proud of both my Māori and my British ancestry,” she said on the weekend. “I do not need to choose between them, and I do not need a political party to tell me what my identity is supposed to mean. My whakapapa is mine. My views are mine. My vote is mine. My country is mine too”.
Then she took aim at Te Pāti Māori. “Te Pāti Māori claim to speak for all Māori. They do not speak for me. They do not speak for every Māori parent who wants their children safe and well educated, every Māori business owner who wants less red tape and more opportunity, or every Māori victim of crime who wants consequences,” she said.
But let’s get back to the notion of a single Maori voice.
Even if The Maori Party could point to higher numbers, Ratana says,
… it would remain tricky for it to claim it speaks for Māori. Certain issues are often portrayed as being “unifying” – things all Māori care about, including the treaty, whānau, te reo Māori, culture and whenua. These are issues many Māori would say are important, but lots of Māori care about other things too. A majority of Māori don’t maintain a regular connection to their marae, and can’t speak te reo Māori. This doesn’t mean these issues aren’t important to them, but it shows that Māori are different and have different experiences and views.
Sure, mana motuhake and the establishment of a Māori parliament might be great ideas and important for some Māori, but others will be more focused on stable jobs, warm homes, and three square meals a day.
In the concluding paragraphs, we are told:
Well, we now have the most Māori political party leaders we’ve ever seen in parliament, and that means we’re also closer to having more representation of the full spectrum of Māori and their political views and experiences.
Many Maori MPs and many disparate political and ideological voices, in other words.
Who would have thought it?
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.
On the other side of the House of Representatives, Greens co-leader Marama Davidson is Māori and Rāwiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer lead The Maori Party.
Seven of the 12 party leaders and deputies in Parliament have Māori ancestry.
The Spinoff’s Atea editor Liam Ratana declares:
Whatever your views of the individuals, it’s a significant achievement for Māoridom.
He then asks:
But will that be the focus or are we in for more arguments – and insults – about who represents Māori and who doesn’t?
This brings into considerations the dubious notion that there can be – or should be – a single political Māori voice.
As Ratana rightly recognises, Māori representation – just the same as non-Maori representation – spans the political spectrum, from left to right.
Thirty-three MPs of Māori descent sit across six different parties in the 54th Parliament.
Because Māori are not a single homogenous group, different factions champion vastly different social and economic aspirations and Māori political voices hold varying and sometimes conflicting ideologies.
Nobody should be surprised.
What we should brace for is more of the racist ruse of vilifying a political opponent for not being sufficiently Maori.
Ratana recalls:
In 2024, Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clark famously said to Peters: “Moumou tō toto Māori (Your Māori blood is a waste).” While Peters has thrown his own insults before (he referred to Rawiri Waititi’s traditional tā moko as “scribbles on his face”), it’s hard to see Maipi-Clark’s comment as anything other than diminishing the mana of not only Peters, but of all his whānau and tūpuna too.
The fledgling MP is far from the first to accuse another Māori politician of not being Māori enough or not the right kind of Māori. In 2022 Labour’s Willie Jackson called Seymour a “useless Māori”, and more recently Māori development minister Tama Potaka has found himself denying he’s part of an anti-Māori government. While recent insults and accusations have come against a backdrop of anger at the government – some political commentators have labelled the coalition “the most overtly racist government we’ve seen in recent decades” – is it ever fair to diminish a politician’s whakapapa?
Shane Jones doesn’t think so. “I don’t believe in this notion [that] just because I have a different idea than the majority of your viewers, that somehow makes me less Māori than you. Be a long day in hell before I’ll agree with that,” Jones said in an interview on Te Ao with Moana last year.
Ratana also recalls that McKee looked like she was trying to get ahead of any battles about how her whakapapa gelled with her political beliefs from the outset.
“I am proud of both my Māori and my British ancestry,” she said on the weekend. “I do not need to choose between them, and I do not need a political party to tell me what my identity is supposed to mean. My whakapapa is mine. My views are mine. My vote is mine. My country is mine too”.
Then she took aim at Te Pāti Māori. “Te Pāti Māori claim to speak for all Māori. They do not speak for me. They do not speak for every Māori parent who wants their children safe and well educated, every Māori business owner who wants less red tape and more opportunity, or every Māori victim of crime who wants consequences,” she said.
But let’s get back to the notion of a single Maori voice.
Even if The Maori Party could point to higher numbers, Ratana says,
… it would remain tricky for it to claim it speaks for Māori. Certain issues are often portrayed as being “unifying” – things all Māori care about, including the treaty, whānau, te reo Māori, culture and whenua. These are issues many Māori would say are important, but lots of Māori care about other things too. A majority of Māori don’t maintain a regular connection to their marae, and can’t speak te reo Māori. This doesn’t mean these issues aren’t important to them, but it shows that Māori are different and have different experiences and views.
Sure, mana motuhake and the establishment of a Māori parliament might be great ideas and important for some Māori, but others will be more focused on stable jobs, warm homes, and three square meals a day.
In the concluding paragraphs, we are told:
Well, we now have the most Māori political party leaders we’ve ever seen in parliament, and that means we’re also closer to having more representation of the full spectrum of Māori and their political views and experiences.
Many Maori MPs and many disparate political and ideological voices, in other words.
Who would have thought it?
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.
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