The proof the left ignore

The online left are outraged that National has ruled out the Māori Party on the basis of a philosophical difference over one person one vote.

Many have claimed the Māori Party are not against this.

Others have tried for a red herring, that under MMP we have two votes. This is a moronic argument.

The principle at stake is called equality of suffrage – that your votes have equal weight. When we gave women the vote, we didn’t say their vote would only be worth 30% of a man’s vote. Equality of suffrage is a universal fundamental human right.

The Māori Party is explicit that they do not support this. Newshub reported in July 2021:

Maori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi thinks Aotearoa could be the “best nation in the world” – but not necessarily as a democracy. …

“We need to start looking at how Maori can participate more equally and equitably in that particular space in a tiriti-centric Aotearoa. Not in a democracy, because… democracy is majority rules, and indigenous peoples – especially Maori at 16 percent of the population in this country – will lose out, and we’ll sit in second-place again.”

Also we had a bill before Parliament which would have abolished equality of suffrage in Rotorua. The Labour, Green and Maori Parties all voted for it at first reading. And here is what the Māori Party said about it:

MP for Waiariki and Māori Party co-leader, Rawiri Waititi, will defend Rotorua’s plans for equality in its proposed Representation Amendments bill.

The comments come after the attorney general, Labour’s own David Parker, called the bill discriminatory in a report released last week.

“I find it ironic that Mr. Parker has the caucasity to call a bill discriminatory that otherwise gives equal representation to Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti.

The Māori Party doesn’t believe inequality at the individual level, but at the race level. It believes equality means 16% of the population have the same representation as the other 84%.