Speech: Katene - Parties and MMP
Thursday, 11 November 2010, 9:50 am
Press Release: The Maori Party
Parliamentary Seminar : MMP at work: the role of political parties in the MMP environment in Parliament, effectiveness and limitations
Legislative Council Chambers, Parliament Buildings
Wednesday 10 November 2010; 3pm
Rahui Katene, MP for Te Tai Tonga
I was interested to read a recent paper in New Zealand Lawyer by public law specialist, Mai Chen[1]. In her description of the five key arguments against MMP there were two that particularly stood out:
- MMP gives small parties disproportionate power. The tail is wagging the dog and small parties gain concessions they wouldn’t (and some would argue shouldn’t) otherwise get.
- MMP makes it more difficult for the Government to control its own legislation.
In my humble opinion, these two supposed weaknesses, also demonstrate the strength of the Mixed Member Proportional system. They describe to me the situation in which cultural diversity is greater; where a diverse range of worldviews can be included into the debate, and in which parliamentary representation truly means the demographic profile of our population is manifest.
I want to state from the outset my absolute support for an MMP system as a means of enabling an environment in which diversity is respected, and representation of a range of world views is valued.
And it is so appropriate to be talking to you today on this topic, because I’ve just arrived back from participating in a joint Inter-Parliamentary Union/United Nations Development Programme conference on Parliaments, Minorities and Indigenous Peoples: Effective Participation in Politics.
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That conference discussed issues such as effective participation in politics: a human right, a prerequisite for democracy and a means of preventing conflict, which considered the questions: what has to be understood by “effective participation” and why is it important? And what are the major obstacles to realising the right of effective participation?
Other sessions considered the questions: what determines the extent to which minorities and indigenous peoples are involved in the development of laws and measures affecting them?
How can the double discrimination faced by women belonging to minorities and indigenous peoples be overcome? Are reserved seats an effective means of representation for minorities and indigenous peoples? Are ‘identity-based’ parties a more effective means of representation than ‘mainstream’ political parties? And many other similar questions.
Basically my answer to the last two questions above was yes; and just as important is proportional representation.
A report produced for the Electoral Commission by Eljon Fitzgerald, Brendan Stevenson and Jacob Tapiata[2] concludes that the introduction of the proportional representation based mixed-member proportions electoral system has brought about increased participation by Maori in the political system, and also increased competition for the Maori vote. That in itself is no mean feat.
Of course MMP has not become the panacea for all the issues associated with valid democratic participation, and it is evident that the gap between Maori and non-Maori voting levels remains.
But, the authors suggest, it is reasonable to suggest that Maori feel a greater sense of enfranchisement due to the larger number of Maori electorate seats (and we intend to grow even further); the two vote system, and the perception that Maori seats might carry the balance of power - all leading to the view that a vote is seen as worthwhile.
We believe that we cannot separate out the issue of participation in MMP from the wider analysis of Maori representation in the political process at both local and national level. We must address all fronts.
But I want to come back to this concept of representation.
Last month, Prime Minister John Key suggested that recent events involving difficulties within small parties were likely to have undermined public confidence in MMP.
It was a disappointing comment and obviously of great importance to this symposium – the role of political parties in the MMP environment in Parliament, effectiveness and limitations.
For in many ways – as both the opening comment from Mai Chen and this more recent one from John Key express – the nature of the limitations that some people have with MMP are also the source of the greatest effectiveness. It is a bit of a variation on that theme – one person’s rubbish is another person’s treasure.
Amongst our communities, there are people who proudly testify to the unique character of pre-loved clothes from hokohoko shops; a special piece of furniture that was retrieved from the local refuse station; or who find an item stored at the back of the antique shop which they lovingly restore to take pride of place in their home. As we know beauty is all in the eye of the beholder.
In much the same way, I want to turn the thinking around limitations of MMP to rest on the asset side of the register. In the Maori Party, we are proponents of the views articulated by Raymond Miller and Pierce Lane[3], and I quote:
“Our hypothesis that women and Maori will be attracted to the more co-operative and consensual style of decision-making offered by coalitions is borne out by the data…..The strength of public support for coalition government across all social groups, but especially young voters, women and ethnicity minorities creates a significant obstacle to electoral changes in 2011”.
This key hypothesis by Miller and Lane, is why the 2008 Relationship and Confidence and Supply Agreement that was negotiated between the National Party and the Maori Party included specific agreement from both parties that there will not be a question about the future of the Maori seats in the referendum on MMP.
We believe there to be widespread support amongst Maori for the retention of the Maori seats in parliament – a view endorsed by the Electoral Commission report I mentioned earlier. And interestingly, - and perhaps not surprisingly - that same report revealed that across a range of Maori policy areas, participants were strongly of the view that the status of the Treaty of Waitangi should not be weakened.
Taking all these views into account then, I want to refer to three policy examples of the effectiveness of MMP through the eyes of the Maori Party.
Despite at times heightened expectations of what five votes can deliver, the reality is that the essential factor underlining any political success for the Maori Party in our arrangement with National, has been in the gains we have been able to make from what I referred to earlier as a more cooperative and consensual style of decision-making.
The Maori Party is now in a relationship with a governing party that has made a commitment to work with their tiriti partner in ways that seek to be mana-enhancing in their joint activity with the Māori people. In the very first line of our agreement this is highlighted, “the National Party and the Maori Party recognise the importance of mana maintenance and enhancement for both parties to this agreement”.
This is how it works in practice.
In 2009 the Government was seeking political support with the review of the Emissions Trading Scheme. Our negotiating position was predicated on four key principles :
- Te Tiriti o Waitangi – the property rights of iwi and citizenship interests of individual Maori must be protected;
- Impact on the environment – we sought to ensure that the finite resources of Papatuanuku are safeguarded and protected;
- Fairness and equity: we did not want the scheme to disproportionately affect Maori either as iwi collective asset holders or as individuals and households vulnerable to increased living costs arising from the scheme
- Tangata whenua : iwi are enduring shareholders in their landbased and natural resource assets in New Zealand and will take a long term multi-generational view.
As a consequence of the political need (ie the reality that our five votes were essential to advancing the legislation) we were able to successfully negotiate a framework of advances based on these four principles, which included gains such as:
- Impacts of power and petrol price charges to be halved.
- Intervention to target energy efficiency assistance (including home heating and insulation) for low income households.
- Treaty clause in the legislation to ensure Crown’s obligations to its Treaty partner are not compromised by the ETS.
- Recognition that iwi have issues with respect to deforestation provisions and their specific Treaty settlements where they have unknowingly been disadvantaged.
- Maori Party to be consulted, and iwi agricultural interests represented, in an agricultural advisory group
- Maori Party input into ongoing dialogue on a broader environmental policy programme; to name just a few.
My second example would be in terms of three of the key milestone agreements in our coalition framework; Whanau Ora; the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill; and the Constitutional Review.
At this point, the first of these – Whanau Ora – is successfully immersed in full implementation right across the country; and its influence is felt throughout the social policy sector.
The second, the Takutai moana Bill is at the crucial stage of policy development – awaiting feedback from the public during the select committee stage of the Bill. And the third, the Constitutional Review, is poised on the starting line, ready to go.
It would be fair to say that none of these three areas were key priorities for the National Party or indeed reflect the hot issues for their constituency. But by having these issues written into the Coalition Agreement, it guarantees progress must be advanced, for the relationship to work.
That is the magic of MMP – that through cooperation and consensus, minor parties can be included in the important decisions around the priorities progressed through Parliament.
And my final example of the effectiveness of MMP is in a Bill that I have pursued through the House, the Goods and Services Tax (Exemption of Healthy Food) Amendment Bill.
This was an issue that we have raised consistently over the last four years Concern has emerged out of a growing body of government and independent research which confirms the persistence of a high level of poverty and associated health and wellbeing effects in New Zealand, particularly for children.
Professor Tony Blakely from Otago University’s Public Health Department has been particularly useful through his study surveying the health and nutritional habits of some 1100 shoppers. The study concluded that a 12.5 percent drop in price increased people’s consumption of healthy food by a massive 11%.
And so my intentions in putting forward my private members bill were based on both the intention to address the basic standard of living experienced by so many low income New Zealanders, as well as to make a significant contribution to the need to encourage healthy lifestyles. It was also driven by the desperate need to address issues of obesity; and the escalating problems associated with type two diabetes.
Now when it came to the vote – we didn’t fare too well; 56 votes FOR; 64 votes against.
But in the court of public opinion we know that the issue has resonated with the people through the amazing feedback we have received in correspondence, on talkback, on the streets. And we know we must be on the right track when the major opposition party decides to take on Maori Party policy as their own!
Finally, I return to one of my predecessors, the MP for Southern Maori, John Patterson.
On 7 August 1868 Mr Patterson made this statement about the quandary of being elected in a First Past the Post electoral system.
“If I give my vote for the Government perhaps it will not benefit me in any way and perhaps if I vote with the Opposition it will not do me any good To my mind you are perhaps all right or perhaps all wrong”.
142 years later, the MP for Te Tai Tonga can stand, hand on heart, and say, that MMP provides our party with the flexibility and the opportunity to be able to advance gains, to apply political pressure, and to remain true to our reputation as the strong and independent Maori voice of Parliament.
[1] ‘Is the MMP referendum likely to result in electoral reform’? Mai Chen; NZ Lawyer, June 10 2010
[2] ‘Maori Electoral Participation; ‘Best outcomes for Maori: Te Hoe Nuku Roa; May 2007.
[3] ‘Future of the MMP electoral system’ in New Zealand Government and Politics; Edited by Raymond Miller, 5th Edition; Oxford; 2010.
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