April 07, 2019
Council seats bill loses to dog whistle politics
Te Tai Tonga MP Rino Tirikatene fears the rejection of a bill to ensure continued Ngāi Tahu representation on the Canterbury Regional council doesn’t bode well for his bill to entrench the Māori seats in parliament.
The Canterbury bill, which was a local bill presented on behalf of the council and with the support of all other territorial local authorities in the Environment Canterbury area, failed to get to a first reading when National joined New Zealand First in voting it down.
Mr Tirikatene says that’s disappointing given it was National which first appointed two Ngāi Tahu representatives onto the council when it sacked elected councillors nine years ago.
He says both parties seem to be trying to appeal to a narrow section of voters.
"It’s all about the politics. It's all about them, dare I say it, blowing that dog whistle hard to their support base. They like to bash up the Māoris I suppose," Mr Tirikatene says.
It would be disappointing if his bill to entrench parliament’s Māori seats suffered a similar fate once it comes out of the select committee.
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