Latest news with #TePātiMāori
Otago Daily Times
4 hours ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Left bloc could turf coalition out of power: poll
By Russell Palmer of RNZ After the Budget and pay equity changes the left bloc would have the support to turf the coalition out of power, the latest RNZ-Reid Research poll shows. The preferred prime minister and leadership ratings are also bad news for the government, with the exception of Winston Peters who has seen his highest result since 2017 - and ratings of the government's general performance have also continued to slide. With Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori all gaining compared to the previous poll taken in March, they would have a majority with 63 seats between them, compared to the coalition's 57 - again, New Zealand First was the only coalition party to see a boost. The poll was taken in the seven days following the release of the Budget and in the wake of the $12.8 billion pay equity changes - which RNZ's polling also shows attracting more opposition than support. National continued a downward trend from the March survey, dropping 2.2 percentage points to 30.7 percent of the party vote - and overtaken by Labour, which gained 0.9 percentage points to 33.2 percent. The Greens' 1.6 percent increase brings them back to their election-night result of 11.6 percent, while Te Pāti Māori's 0.5 percentage point boost lifts them clear of the 5 percent threshold and - presuming they held all Māori seats - nets them a list MP. ACT dropped 2.8 points to 6.6 percent - the largest shift in party polling - while New Zealand First gained 1.9 points to 9.1 percent, upending the trend facing their coalition partners. Undecided or non-voters made up 6.5 percent of those polled - up from 6.1 in the previous poll. For parties outside Parliament, TOP (The Opportunities Party) gained 0.4 points to 2.2 percent, New Conservatives fell 0.3 points to 0.8, and all others combined were at 0.3 points, a 0.1 point increase on the last survey. More New Zealanders polled say the country is going in the wrong direction (46.6 percent) than in the right direction (37.8 percent), giving a net negative result of -8.8, a substantial decrease on March's 2.9 result. Little surprise then to see National leader Christopher Luxon's net favourability ratings drop further into the negative, from -3.9 percent in March to -9.8 percent, with significantly more respondents (45.5 percent) saying he performed poorly or very poorly, than said he performed well or very well (35.7 percent). That compared to Labour's Chris Hipkins on net 5.1 percent rating (34 percent negative, 39.1 percent positive) - though Hipkins also saw a steeper fall of 7.1 percentage points. The survey shows New Zealanders' preferred prime minister as Hipkins (23.2 percent, up 2.3), taking the lead over Luxon (18.8 percent, down 3.1). NZ First leader Winston Peters at 8.9 percent (up 1 point) recorded his highest result since 2017. Chlöe Swarbrick in fourth was at 6.9 percent (up 0.8) - a personal best and just ahead of ACT's David Seymour on 6.4 percent (down 0.4). The next highest ratings were former PM Jacinda Ardern (3.7 percent, up 0.1), Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke (1.7 percent, up 0.5), Finance Minister Nicola Willis (1.1, up 0.3) and Education/Immigration Minister Erica Stanford making her first appearance at 1 percent. 'I don't recognise the numbers' - Coalition plays down poll Luxon simply rejected the poll results. "Look, I mean, I don't recognise the numbers. There's lots of different polls and frankly I'm just not going to comment or focus on the polls. Frankly what we're focused on is we were elected in '23 and people get to decide again in 2026. "We've done a good job, and that's why we've got to focus on the economy, law and order, and health and education." He said New Zealanders had "responded really positively" to the government's Budget, and saw the economy turning a corner. "There's a sense of optimism that, you know, we actually have had to manage some very difficult things economically to get our books back in order. But we're doing that job, and it's all about growth, growth, growth." Seymour said the numbers would continue to "bounce around" but it was still a tough time for New Zealanders - and the numbers were not a reflection on the Budget. "Different voters will have different reasons for their choices ... so long as people are voting for the economy, it's going to be tough for parties that are tied closely to economic management," he said. It was possible the pay equity changes were changing some voters' minds, he said, "but I also think doing what is right is what is politically popular in the long term, and even if I'm wrong about that, good policy is worth it anyway". "The fact that ACT is close to where it was on election night 18 months into a government with 18 months to go is a good foundation. We have to prove ourselves on election night, and we've got lots of time to do that." Peters refused to comment on whether his coalition partners were suffering from the handling of the pay equity changes. The next 18 months leading up to the election would show the "critical need for stability", he said, and having ruled out working with Chris Hipkins he was "comfortable and confident in our prospects" because the Greens and Te Pāti Māori in government would be "a nightmare". The 80-year-old Peters said economies internationally were in trouble as a result of "unprecedented times for the last, say, 80 years", and the party was looking at New Zealand's fundamentals: asset values, and the need to increase wages and decrease business tax. "We're out there to ensure over the next few months that we can show enough improvement in the economy from what we're doing to make the prospects of an improved tomorrow possible." 'Nice to be popular' - Opposition Hipkins was also not counting his electoral chickens, but was happy to point out the effect of the Budget, saying New Zealanders were "disillusioned" with the government overall. "New Zealanders can increasingly see that this government is taking the country backwards," he said. "I don't think anyone expected the government to cancel pay equity as a way of balancing its books. Nicola Willis and Christopher Luxon told New Zealanders before the election that they knew their numbers, that everything all added up. It's clear that their numbers didn't add up." He said he did not pay much attention to small shifts from the minor parties or his personal ratings in the polls. "It's nice to be popular, but I'm really focused on making sure I win as many votes as possible for Labour at the next election." Swarbrick said New Zealanders wanted a sense of hope. "Things are feeling pretty bloody bleak. You know, we've got 191 New Zealanders leaving every single day, three quarters of them between the ages of 18 to 45, it's not a recipe for a flourishing country. "We had dozens and dozens of folks turn out to talk to us about our Green budget and the sense of hope that they feel that they need - the kind of building blocks that we can have for a fairer society." She said polls did not mean the writing was on the wall, but she was hearing from people that they were exhausted and fatigued - something she suggested was a deliberate strategy from the coalition. Te Pāti Māori's co-leader Rawiri Waititi said the poll numbers showed the party's policies and rhetoric around the government's actions were appealing to new supporters. "The kind of anti-Māori, anti-wāhine, anti-woman, anti-worker, anti-climate, anti-rainbow, anti-woke type agenda that this government is pushing at the moment also is not appealing to the people who are trying to find a place to put their political support and trying to support those who fiercely advocate for them." He said their internal polling showed even higher support for the party and its style of politics - but the decreased support for ACT and increase for NZ First was a zero-sum game. "You've got a hard-right type voter ... I think they think that National is a little bit weak, which I agree [with] because they're allowing ACT to kind of run the show ... they will use Te Pāti Māori as their political football to kick us in the guts the hardest to garner the support of their voters, but at the end of the day the enemy for ACT is New Zealand First, and the enemy for New Zealand First is ACT." Explore the full results with RNZ's interactive charts. This poll of 1008 people was conducted by Reid Research, using quota sampling and weighting to ensure a representative cross section by age, gender and geography. The poll was conducted through online interviews between 21-27 March 2025 and has a maximum margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent at a 95 percent confidence level. The report is available here.
NZ Herald
5 days ago
- Politics
- NZ Herald
David Seymour condemns charity fight challenge from Eru Kapa-Kingi
Act leader David Seymour is condemning an 'immature' challenge to a charity fight from prominent Treaty activist Eru Kapa-Kingi. In a video posted to social media yesterday, Kapa-Kingi took exception to Seymour calling his mother, Te Pāti Māori MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, an 'idiot' during the House's debate on the
Otago Daily Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Penalty proof Maori MPs facing disproportionate scrutiny
When Judith Collins accused Te Pāti Māori MPs of a "lack of civility" for their haka in Parliament she drew 185 years of colonial racism down upon their heads. It was grotesque. And entirely expected. Collins, who chaired the privileges committee, argued that their decision to impose the harshest penalty in the Parliament's history against Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer was based on "fairness". It was vengence, not fairness. Her public statements about Te Pāti Māori and the excessive sentence belong to a colonial bias that maliciously targets the Māori presence in the House. The government has well-signalled its intention to force a confrontation with Māori in the Parliament. At every opportunity, the government has chosen the worst behaviour and the most offensive route. When Maureen Pugh refused to allow a karakia from a rangatira after the passing of Whakatōhea Claims Settlement legislation, the Speaker was unapologetic and defensive, relying on their own rules to justify this insult to kaumatua. The Treaty Principles Bill was another way to do the same thing — threaten Māori people and their Māori MPs with a legal tool to eliminate te Tiriti rights, justified on the basis of "process". The Parliament, in the grip of the coalition government, has been anything but civil where Māori are concerned. It was right then for Te Pāti Māori to reject the privileges committee request to appear without collective representation or tikanga expertise. There was no civility to be found among the government members of that committee. The MPs would only have used the opportunity to harass and denigrate the MPs, their representatives, their communities and tikanga Māori. The problem that incites the government MPs to such tumult is that Te Pāti Māori are not sorry. They are not sorry for expressing tikanga in the Chamber. They are not sorry for being Māori. That act of defiance infuriates and embarrasses the government. The haka humiliated the coalition. It has now been watched over 700 million times across the globe. That single act of indigenous strength has led literally millions of people to support Māori cultural expression that challenges colonial violence. For government this is abhorrent. Māori must comply, must concede, must assimilate, and must make no fuss. If we are to perform our culture it can only be in accordance with the rules they set to tame and domesticate it. If we insist on being Māori, we are treated like criminals. The privileges committee has done exactly that in its ruling. It has declared that being and expressing Māori in the Parliament is a crime, weaponising the Parliament's rules against Māori MPs. Māori MPs now face disproportionate scrutiny and excessive punishment for an act of cultural resistance. The privileges committee does not operate in a vacuum. New Zealand's political landscape has seen a rise in anti-Māori rhetoric, particularly from right-wing factions. By leading the committee's biased enforcement of the privileges committee rules, the government drives a culture where Pākehā MPs are held to different, lower, standards and Māori MP's are disproportionately punished. What a familiar story. The lack of integrity in the committee's process means that Māori MPs are judged not the rules, but by a Pākehā-dominated interpretation that reinforces inequities. If Parliament refuses to address this, it further erodes respect for an institution already, and rightly, considered a relic of colonial power. Next week, when the House resumes, we will see whether the Parliament as a whole is prepared to pull back on its rules-based racism. That is one of the constitutional struggles here. The privileges committee's historical practice of reasonableness and collegiality was captured by the coalition government's political agenda, exposing a deeper hypocrisy in New Zealand's democracy. The committee became a tool for the government's political retribution. New Zealand's political institutions are rooted in colonialism. The privileges committee, in overseeing parliamentary conduct, still operates as if Māori should not exist. First the Parliament needs to reject the vicious recommendations of the privileges committee. The rules governing the privileges committee now also need an overhaul. The government should not be able to use it for vengeful purposes. A bare majority should never be enough for a censure recommendation. Tikanga Māori needs to be safeguarded against the racial bias we have witnessed. Without some change, the committee will continue as an arm of the state's assimilationist agenda, punishing those who dare to be Māori in that place. ■Metiria Stanton Turei is a senior law lecturer at the University of Otago and a former Green Party MP and co-leader.
Scoop
6 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Democracy Denied: Te Pāti Māori Slam Govt For Silencing Māori And Tangata Tiriti On The Regulatory Standards Bill
Press Release – Te Pati Maori The system is broken-again. It couldnt handle the tidal wave of Mori opposition last year, and its collapsing under the same pressure now said Te Pti Mori co-leader Rawiri Waititi. Today, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi slammed the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee's refusal to extend the public submission period for the Regulatory Standards Bill, calling it a deliberate act to silence whānau, hapū, iwi, and community voices. Waititi had urged the Committee to extend the submission period by four weeks, citing both procedural fairness and technical failures- after the submissions portal repeatedly crashed on day one, echoing the same systemic failures experienced during last year's Treaty Principles Bill. 'The system is broken-again. It couldn't handle the tidal wave of Māori opposition last year, and it's collapsing under the same pressure now' said Waititi. 'This is already one of the most unconstitutional bills ever put before this House. Rushing it through only adds insult to injury- it's not just bad law, it's a bad process.' This morning, Government members on the Committee voted down every attempt by Te Pāti Māori to extend the submission deadline or retain the standard six-month review process. They have instead locked in a shortened four-month timeframe and a hard deadline of 23 June 2025. 'Make no mistake- this is legislative sabotage. The Government is not only advancing the most dangerous bill in Aotearoa's parliamentary history, they're doing it with their foot on the gas and their hand over our mouths.' 'We are not surprised- we've seen this playbook before. But we are not powerless. We know how to mobilise. We know how to fight back.' Waititi issued a national call to action: 'There are still 25 days left. Flood the system. Overwhelm it with our voices. Let them choke on the very democracy they're trying to dismantle. 'Rally your whānau, your hapū, your iwi, your communities. Let's shut this bill down the way we shut down every other attempt to erase us. Submissions are our weapons- use them' concluded Waititi.
Kiwiblog
6 days ago
- Politics
- Kiwiblog
Prebble on Labour and TPM
Richard Prebble writes: Claims standards of parliamentary behaviour have fallen are nonsense. Except for Te Pāti Māori, this is a well-behaved House. The Speaker's referral of the floor protest to the Privileges Committee was not discretionary. It was required by Standing Orders. The Speaker was lenient. He could have ordered the Sergeant-at-Arms to end the Māori Party haka. Any MP who resisted is automatically suspended for the rest of this Parliament. No Parliament can tolerate its proceedings being disrupted by protest. In 1981, British Speaker George Thomas suspended Labour MP Ron Brown for 20 days for nothing more than placing a protest flag on the Commons table. In 2023, the Tennessee House of Representatives expelled two Democratic lawmakers for leading a protest on the House floor. Yes, there have been incidents of disorder in the House before, but all admitted their actions were wrong. No MP has ever refused a summons to the Privileges Committee. This is spot on. There is no general problem. Just a problem with one party. And indeed a three week suspension is lenient for the nature of what they did. Across Europe, there are MMP parliaments with extremist parties that reject parliamentary norms. Europeans know it is a mistake to appease democracy's enemies. The democratic parties establish a 'cordon sanitaire'. They refuse to form coalitions or alliances with parties that oppose democracy. Here's what is also unprecedented: the New Zealand Labour Party, long a champion of parliamentary democracy, has not set a cordon sanitaire and ruled out working with Te Pāti Māori. Labour leader Chris Hipkins told Parliament that Labour wants no penalty on the MP who instigated the protest and just 24 hours for the party leaders – no real sanction in my view. Parliamentary democracy is not safe with Labour. TPM are proudly an anti-democracy party. They do not believe in one person, one vote. They want one person, six votes.
