Maori representation

Span has a good post on the history of the Maori seats, in which she attacks the myth that they were established to ensure Maori representation, pointing out that their history is one of ensuring that Maori were under-represented. She begins with the establishment of the seats in 1867:

At that time eligible Maori voters (considerably less than the number of adult Maori) were at least a quarter of the voting population. But non-Maori were given 60 seats to represent them, while Maori were given four. Yes, four. You read that right - four (4). Quite ignoring the voter eligibility dodginess, they should still have got 20, to be proportionate. But no, four was deemed sufficient to represent Maori in Parliament.

There's some quibbling over the numbers - according to the 1986 Royal Commission on the Electoral System, there were 72 general seats, not 60 - but the fact remains that from their outset, Maori were consciously denied full representation by the New Zealand government, and while the dramatic growth of the non-Maori population made this under-representation less severe, it was still present, and still deliberate. While many of the problems with the Maori seats (such as the denial until 1937 of a secret ballot, or until 1949 of a formal electoral roll) seem to have stemmed from neglect - lawmakers just not caring about Maori - one thing that Span misses is that underrepresentation was consciously and deliberately renewed as recently as 1976. In 1975, the Rowling Labour government introduced the "Maori option" allowing Maori to choose which roll they would be on; they also made Maori seats subject to the rules as other seats, with their number varying with the numbers on the Maori roll, and their boundaries set by the Representation Commission rather than the Governor-General. Muldoon kept the former change, but reversed the latter. While coincidentally there would have been around four Maori seats at that time, not permitting the number of seats to increase along with the roll represented a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise Maori.

Much is made by the right of the fact that the Maori seats were originally a temporary measure, designed to ensure (under)represenation until permanant arrangements were made (similar measures were taken for West Coast gold-miners). But this overlooks the fact that the seats were made permanent in 1876 and reaffirmed by subsequent legislation. Hearkening back to "original intent" misses the fact that that intent changed in response to changing circumstances. But then, isn't that what conservatives do?

As for the seats themselves, it's instructive to read the Royal Commission report. They recognised the importance of the seats to Maori as a recognition of their status under the Treaty, and felt very strongly that Maori interests ought to be represented by Maori MPs. However, they also noted that the Ghettoisation of the Maori vote reduced its power, in that general MPs were not accountable to Maori, while the fact that the Maori electorates were all safe Labour seats meant that Labour could to some extent take them for granted. The Royal Commission believed that Maori interests would be best served if all parties had to compete for the Maori vote, and favoured the elimination of the seats in favour of an electoral system which properly represented minorities. However, it seems that MMP has met this challenge by making all parties accountable to Maori through the party vote. The number of Maori seats has since grown with the Maori roll, emphasising their importance to Maori, but they have no more effect on the outcome than any other electorate seat.