Politics is a numbers game, and Māori have the numbers. With seven Māori electorates, record enrolments on the Māori roll, and growing influence in the party vote, Māori hold the swing power in who governs next. The Green Party knows this. If they are to lead the next Government, they will need Māori support to put them there.
That makes the question more than fair: What do the Greens have to offer Māori?
At the Party AGM in Pōneke this weekend, Chlöe Swarbrick says the Greens are already “leading the opposition,” setting the political agenda others follow. Marama Davidson anchors that agenda in Te Tiriti o Waitangi, tino rangatiratanga, and hoki whenua mai, not as policy extras, but as the foundation of their kaupapa. “Ko te rākau e tupu ana, e taea te whakahoki, ki te one i tupu ake ai.” It is possible to trace a growing tree to the soil from which it grew, says Davidson.
For the Greens, that soil is Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the source they say, which must be honoured if Aotearoa is to deliver justice for people and whenua alike.
But there is an elephant in the room; the perception among some that the Greens’ treatment of wahine Māori has, in the past, fallen short. The high-profile exits of Dr Elizabeth Kerekere and Darleen Tana shook Māori confidence in the party’s commitment to its own stated kaupapa. I publicly challenged them, asking if they were racist or if the Party was unsafe for wahine Māori. From observation, they have been working hard to rebuild trust – but it is a rebuild, and Māori will decide whether that work is enough.
So what’s on offer to Māori?
Te Tiriti Justice & Land Back
Te Tiriti is embedded in the Greens’ constitution. They commit to upholding tino rangatiratanga for iwi and hapū, and to Hoki whenua mai – returning land as a matter of justice. In the numbers game, that policy speaks directly to Māori who see land return as central to repairing the economic and cultural damage of colonisation.
Tax & Redistribution
A wealth tax on the top 3% would fund targeted initiatives to end Māori child poverty, homelessness, and restore public services. Treasury data shows most households – particularly Māori in lower and middle incomes- would pay less tax under their plan, putting money back in whānau pockets and resources into hāpori Māori.
Housing
The Greens promise to end homelessness through kaupapa Māori housing programmes, long-term state investment, and cutting subsidies to landlords – a clear appeal to Māori voters in electorates where housing costs and overcrowding are political flashpoints.
Health & Education
Free GP visits, free dental care, and free early childhood education – removed from corporate ownership and delivered as public goods and are framed as restoring equity in services where Māori are over-represented in poor health and low access.
Jobs & Climate
A Green Industrial Strategy creating 40,000 jobs in sustainable industries, with a focus on regional economies and just transitions for Māori workers in high-emissions sectors. This speaks to Māori in regions where employment is tied to industries that must adapt or close.
So how do they stack up against Labour and Te Pāti Māori?
If numbers decide elections, policy decides what those numbers deliver. Labour holds the largest Māori caucus in history but has avoided clear commitments to land back and has slowed on reforms like Oranga Tamariki. It offers incremental change, safer in delivery, but limited in scope.
Te Pāti Māori is unapologetically Māori-led, with policies for constitutional transformation, abolishing the Māori seats cap, and embedding tikanga into law. Their platform is the boldest, but their smaller scale means their numbers in Parliament rely on alliances.
The Greens position themselves between the two; explicit in support for Te Tiriti, land back, and redistribution, while also courting the general electorate. That dual approach broadens their reach but increases the risk of compromise in coalition negotiations.
Risks and Realities
The Māori vote may be decisive, but it’s not a blank cheque. The Greens cannot form a government without coalition partners, and Māori will measure them on delivery, not promises.
Key policies; wealth tax, land back, universal healthcare, these are radical and innovative so will face political resistance. Both co-leaders, Davidson rāua ko Swarbrick, admit that transformation is slow. For Māori communities facing urgent housing, health, and employment needs – slow change risks losing the very support the Greens must have to lead.
Budget: Realistic or Ideological?
The 2024 Green Budget is fully costed, funded by wealth taxes, ending fossil fuel subsidies, and shifting spending to public goods. Independent modelling from BERL and CTU says it’s economically viable.
The real challenge is political. Convincing coalition partners to accept large-scale redistribution will test the Greens’ ability to convert Māori votes into Māori gains.
The Choice for Māori Voters
Māori voters hold the numbers to decide whether the Greens can lead. The Greens offer a programme where Te Tiriti is upheld, whenua is restored, and economic settings are shifted to protect mokopuna yet to come. Labour offers gradual progress. Te Pāti Māori offers full Māori self-determination.
The question is not just who can win Māori votes, but who can turn those votes into results.
Swarbrick began her AGM speech: “Hā ki roto. Hā ki waho.”
A deep breath in – connecting to whenua, whakapapa, and the shared air we breathe.
A deep breath out – committing to act, to organise, and to use the numbers we have to shape the next Government. (This is not what you’d hear or see at a National Party, ACT or NZF AGM).
However, some might add this whakataukī to Swarbrick’s kōrero: “He ora te whakapiri, he mate te whakatakariri – there is life in togetherness, death in division”
Whether the Green Party promises to Māori are kept will depend on how Māori use that power.
