1 October 2025
This is my brief take on Māori wards, and why I think they aren’t a healthy way forward. A lot of people have already made up their mind and some have even already voted, and that’s just fine. This is only one person’s point of view which you can take or leave – and either way, I don’t think it will be a train smash if Māori wards stay or go – least of all for Māori.
We could get into all sorts of questions like what was or wasn’t committed to in the Treaty of Waitangi, but Māori wards are really just about one thing: representation in a democracy. If that’s not happening as has been claimed, then it’s a problem that deserves to be fixed. But the issue with Māori wards as I see it, is that they cannot – and will not – do that.
Democracy only works if people show up to vote and understand why they’re voting. I worry that carving out separate electoral wards for any group not only doesn’t strengthen that process, it is actually a recipe to weaken it. It creates a space where voter engagement can wither even further, and where candidates can succeed not through broad support but because of low turnout and political alignment with specific vested interests. That will be a cost for all of us to bear.
We should also take a few lessons from history.
Māori seats in Parliament were introduced in the 19th century as a very practical way of giving Māori men without individual land titles the ability to vote. But what was originally intended as a temporary fix has now become a permanent feature, and one that arguably hasn’t delivered on its promise of better outcomes for Māori.
And remember when New Zealand went nuclear-free in 1987? Can anyone even recall the actual reasons why? For a refresher, you can read about it here. Ever since then, I believe we’ve been basking in a kind of self-righteous glow that often outweighs the practicalities. Māori wards risk heading down the same track — symbolic, entrenched, and ultimately ineffective at solving the real issues (if they even get remembered).
The reality is there is no such thing as a ‘temporary fix’ in politics. Once baked in, a thing can hang around long after its purpose is done.
Māori are not children, and yet Māori wards treat them as if they are – that’s demeaning to everyone. Life throws challenges at all of us in different ways, but the most important breakthroughs don’t come from handouts – they come from within.
There’s a well-known proverb:
“If you give a man a fish, he will be hungry tomorrow. If you teach a man to fish, he will be richer forever.”
Māori wards are like giving the fish, and I think we can do much better than that.
duncandoestaupo.com 
Absolutely correct Duncan. And in 1867 the Maori seats in parliament were supposed to be a temporary measure. We have only ever had one chance to get rid of them – when MMP was bought in but that was rejected by a National government.
There has never been a chance to vote them out.
The proponents of Maori wards talk about the tyranny of the majority- a myth of course but so much better than the tyranny of or by a minority surely.
Let’s hope the vote to remove them is more than 70%
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