September 14, 2023
Treaty could be coalion bargaining chip
A Māori political scientist Lara Greaves says a critical question if there is a change of Government is what concessions National will give ACT in the treaty space.
ACT is campaigning for a referendum on co-governance, which if passed would trigger a law defining the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Lara Greaves from Victoria University of Wellington says traditionally National in Government has been closer to the centre.
“There’s been a lot of media coverage about the extent to which ACT would try to disempower te tiriti and remove treaty sections from reports and things like that. National is kind of pushing back against that and the question for me is if they are in Government, the extent to which they give concessions to ACT in the treaty space,” she says.
Two new polls have indicated a change in Government is likely after the October 14 election.
The Guardian Essential poll found support for Labour had slumped 2.5 points to 26.9 percent since August, with National on 34.5 percent.
While the Greens picked up Labour’s vote to poll 11 percent, ACT fell 1.3 points to 10.3 percent.
New Zealand First strengthened to 6 percent, giving it the ability to decide the next Government.
The latest 1News Verian poll also had New Zealand First returning to parliament, but without the negotiating power – National on 39 percent and ACT on 10 percent would give them enough seats to govern.
It put Labour on 28 percent and the Greens on 10 percent.
Te Pāti Māori registered at 2.5 percent in the Guardian poll and 3 percent in the TVNZ poll.