Maori representation

Big News has a few thoughts on Maori in Parliament. He notes that MMP has led to far greater representation for Maori, primarily due to list selection. He continues:

[g]iven that parties can put promising candidates high on the party list, one argument - although not convincing - is that we no longer need Maori seats to provide Maori representation. Maori representation could be up to list selection, rather than Maori seats.

The problem is that some parties - notably National - seem uninterested in ensuring Maori representation through their lists. At the same time they are actively advocating the abolition of the Maori seats - sending the message that they are actively hostile to the idea of Maori being represented in Parliament. Unfortunately, National are not the sharpest tools in the shed when it comes to voting - they've only just figured out that under MMP it's the party vote that matters, and have yet to figure out that systematically pissing off large segments of the electorate (Maori and women, for a start) means that they will be unable to form a government - and it doesn't look like they're really thought this through. In 1986, the Royal Commission on the Electoral System argued in favour of a common roll because it would

provide Maori electors with a more effective vote and with the assurance that all MPs and not just Maori MPs were in some degree accountable to Maori electors. As a result, all MPs would be forced to compete for Maori votes at election time, and the political parties would therefore be under some pressure to give greater attention to Maori interests and concerns in the development of policy and to pursue those interests more vigorously while in office. They would also be under some pressure to offer Maori as candidates, to service Maori constituents in ways that met their expectations, and to target Maori electors in their canvassing and other electio neering processes.

It also noted that, if they were organised in the same way as black voters in the US were, a common roll would allow Maori voters to exercise far greater power. The upshot for National is that abolishing the Maori seats would force them to start catering to Maori voters or face punishment in the electorates in the same way as they are being punished in the party vote. Is that really what they want?

That said, I don't think squicking National is a good reason to get rid of the Maori seats. More important is the fact that since the Maori option was made voluntary, Maori voters have voted with their feet and chosen to be represented this way - despite the fact that it reduces their electorate voting power. Their wishes I think should be respected.