Waatea News Column: The Maori Party Double Standard
The problem with the Electoral Commission taking the Māori Party to the Police for the late filing of donations is the double standard it would send.
To be clear, the Māori Party are being investigated for a late donation return, if you look at the half dozen examples over the last 21 years of the Electoral Commission taking Parties to the Police, a much different picture emerges.
Labour, National, NZ First, The Conservative Party, they were all referred to the Police for fraudulent abuse of the process, not a technical breach!
Labour’s pledge card, National not adding the GST on their media spend, and NZ First’s entire structure are being investigated and in every case so far, the Police have not proceeded with any prosecution.
If the Māori Party were prosecuted for a technical breach when everyone else has been let off for actual breaches it will be another example of how deep that institutional racism runs.
First published on Waatea News.
I think they will and should based on precedents get a slap on the hand. And they just need to learn from the mistake and move on as there is too much mahi to do and at the moment they are doing really well. They also need to be careful not to take on too much, maybe pick there battles (prioritize). If they( the Maori party)can keep the momentum going and Labour don’t deliver enough this could lead to more Maori seats.
Considering that the Labour party and the Maori party aren’t really in competition for votes, I would think that whether the govt “delivers” or not shouldn’t affect the support that the Maori party have earned from their core constituency.. A government consisting of Labour/Greens/Maori parties would be historical, and really excellent.. The fact that we have a government populated with upper management types is almost as much of an impediment as the civil service ,which is doing the job nat/act are supposed to be doing, and failing at.. The mix mentioned above puts people with “real world experience” into a position to effect change for the better.. Let’s hope NZers are smart enough to avoid doing the “one step forward, two steps back” dance once again..