The shock defection of the Labour Cabinet Minister Meka Whaitiri to the Maori Party caught the Prime Minister and her former colleagues by surprise. They were blind-sided, admitting they had no idea she was thinking of leaving the Party.
Labour appears so desperate to avoid upsetting a party they may need to rely on to form the next government, that they have decided not to expel their rogue MP from Parliament. But in doing so they look to be turning a blind eye to the Maori Party’s aggressive strategy of targeting three or four of their Maori seats as the next step towards winning all seven.
If the Maori Party succeeds, they are likely to create an overhang of seats in the next Parliament and be in a position to rule Parliament.
How do we protect our democracy against the radical views of a Party that only secured 1.2% of the vote at the last general election? Should the Maori seats be abolished? Should New Zealand do what other countries have done and remove all references to race from our statute books?
The shock defection of the Labour Cabinet Minister Meka Whaitiri to the Maori Party caught the Prime Minister and her former colleagues by surprise. They were blind-sided, admitting they had no idea she was thinking of leaving the Party.
Labour appears so desperate to avoid upsetting a party they may need to rely on to form the next government, that they have decided not to expel their rogue MP from Parliament. But in doing so they look to be turning a blind eye to the Maori Party’s aggressive strategy of targeting three or four of their Maori seats as the next step towards winning all seven.
If the Maori Party succeeds, they are likely to create an overhang of seats in the next Parliament and be in a position to rule Parliament.
How do we protect our democracy against the radical views of a Party that only secured 1.2% of the vote at the last general election? Should the Maori seats be abolished? Should New Zealand do what other countries have done and remove all references to race from our statute books?