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http://www.panui.net/2012/02/05/omnibus-briefing-policy-matters-arising-to-3-february-2012/
If you wish to have full access to our weekly briefing papers follow the link to our subscription page: http://www.panui.net/subscribe/
http://www.panui.net/2012/01/27/omnibus-briefing-1-january-to-27-january-2012/
Member of the Order of New Zealand (ONZ);
Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM)
Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM)
Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM)
Queens Service Medal (QSM)
http://www.panui.net/2012/01/27/appointments-maori-new-years-honours-omnibus-excerpt-from-week-ending-27-01-2012/
From week ending 2 December 2011
Despite losing significant voting franchise in this election, the Māori Party retains three seats in parliament, and is in discussions with the Prime Minister (elect) on whether another confidence and supply agreement can be reached, or some other form of agreement between the parties.
We note the general media has focused on possibly tensions relating to the proposed sale of shares in State-Owned Enterprises as a barrier to a formal supply and confidence agreement. However, both the National Party and Māori Party have indicated that particular policy matter can be set aside from any agreement framework, allowing each party to retain its respective (opposing) view. (How such a proposition would work in practise, however, particularly for voting on the annual budget, is unclear at this stage.)
While the Māori Party still needs to confirm its political positioning with its members, the party leaders have indicated that Cabinet posts are sought (Minister of Māori Affairs and Minister with Responsibility for Whānau Ora), and that priority areas for negotiations with National include matters pertaining to the constitutional review, Māori employment matters, and the functionality of Te Puni Kōkiri.
There are two proposals raised in relation to Te Puni Kokiri, the first is to reposition the agency as a more central ‘control agency’, with a greater purview over the operations of other Ministries. (There are three such agencies at present, with structural authority over other agencies, these being The Treasury, the State Services Commission and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet). The second proposal is to refocus Te Puni Kōkiri on employment matters, perhaps realigning some of its existing funding to support proposals to create new employment opportunities for Māori youth.
We will provide further information on any published coalition arrangements when/if agreed between the National and Māori parties; and at that point will provide an assessment of merits of proposals for Māori policy development.
From week ending 2 December 2011
http://www.panui.net/2011/12/05/maori-party-%e2%80%93-coalition-discussions-omnibus-excerpt/
From week ending 2 December 2011
Prior to the election, we provided a series of précis of the policy positions of parties relevant to Māori social, economic and treaty matters. We did not provide an analysis of the New Zealand First Party (NZ First), as the party was not represented in parliament in the last session. However, the election result now shows that NZ First will enter parliament next year with eight members. Results also show that this party received good support in the Māori electorate seats, above that of the National Party for example (refer above).
NZ First has a Māori Affairs policy framework. The party makes the point that Māori experience significant social and economic disparities compared to non-Māori; and these disparities ‘must be confronted’ to ensure Māori are have the same life chances as others. That is, the party’s view is that any services provided must be based on social and economic need (not treaty or first nation rights), but that such needs do exist within the Māori population, and therefore warrant assistance from Government.
The policy proposes a mix of restarting programmes that are said to have run from the Department of Māori Affairs prior to the 1990s, such as trade-training, and mention is also made of further empowering traditional Māori social service providers (Māori Wardens, the Māori Women’s Welfare League, etc). However the driving policy principle is somewhat unclear, in that the policy text also appears to advocate for further devolution of services to Māori to mainstream agencies, referencing back to ‘Ka Awatea’. (Ka Awatea is the name of a 1991 Māori policy framework centred on devolving services to general agencies, which was advanced when Winston Peters was Minister of Māori Affairs in a National Government). Below we have provided a review of the policy proposals against the variables used to consider other parties.
| Salient Policy Positions of Interest from a Māori Policy Perspective | |
| Policies | NZ First |
| Policies that explicitly seek to strengthen constitutional considerations pertaining to the Treaty of Waitangi | No |
| Policies that explicitly support retaining Māori electorates / seats in parliament | No |
| Policies that explicitly propose ‘enhancements’ in Treaty settlements | No |
| Policies that seek to increase the use of Te Reo within communities | Yes |
| Policies that explicitly focus on increasing services / collective interventions for at-risk whānau / children / or young people | Yes |
| Policies that support minimum wage increases and/or welfare support increases | No |
| Policies that explicitly focus on support / interventions for Māori at retirement age | Yes |
| Policies that focus on improving the utility of Māori land / physical assets | Yes |
| Policies that explicitly focus on increasing Māori input on natural resource issues | No |
| Provision of financial projections to pay for social commitments being proposed | No |
http://www.panui.net/2011/12/05/political-parties-%e2%80%93-new-zealand-firstomnibus-excerpt/
From week ending 2 December 2011
Parliament will commence in February with nineteen Māori members; comprised of the seven members in the Māori electorate seats, four in general seats, and eight from party list members. This represents 16% of the 121 seats in parliament. We note this closely matches the proportion of Māori in the population 15%, and that without Māori electorate seats, Māori representation would be only 9%. Incoming/returning Māori members of parliament are:
| Labour Party | Shane Jones, Rino Tirikatene, Parekura Horomia, Nanaia Mahuta, Louisa Wall |
| National Party | Paula Bennett, Simon Bridges, Jami-Lee Ross, Hekia Parata and Tau Henare |
| Māori Party | Tariana Turia, Pita Sharples, Te Ururoa Flavel |
| Green Party | Metiria Turei, Dave Clendon, Denise Roche |
|
Mana Party |
Hone Harawira |
| New Zealand First | Winston Peters, Brendan Horan |
In 2008, the Māori Party gained five of the seven Māori electorate seats. In this election, the Māori Party has gained three seats, with the Labour Party also gaining three seats, and the Mana Party gaining one seat. In the seats still held by the Māori Party, winning margins have also fallen significantly, dropping by approximately 25 percentile points in all of these seats; while the Labour and Mana Parties gained support.
These changes show significant voter movement away from the Māori Party since 2008. Overall, 34,000 people on the Māori electoral roll gave their candidate vote to a Māori Party candidate in 2011, which is less than half of the 77,000 equivalent votes the party received in 2008 (i.e a fall of 44,000 voters). Put another way, in 2008, more than one in two voters on the Māori electoral roll voted for the Māori Party candidate, in 2011, the equivalent ratio is slightly below one in three.
From week ending 2 December 2011
http://www.panui.net/2011/12/05/maori-members-of-parliament-omnibus-excerpt/
From week ending December 2, 2011
The General Election has returned the National Party to Government with 48% of the Party Vote, and a total of 60 seats out of 121[1]. The National Party will be entering confidence and supply agreements with the ACT Party (1 seat) and the United Future Party (1 seat), to secure a majority of votes in parliament. The National Party is also likely to enter into a further conference and supply agreement with the Māori Party, (discussed further below).
Māori electorate voting patterns, however, were an inverse to those of people on the general roll. As shown in the tables below, with their party vote, people on the Māori electoral roll voted most often voted for parties on the political left, particularly the Labour Party. This analysis shows that the newly forming National Government is not well supported by Māori electorate voters.
| Comparison of Māori and General party voting patterns | Māori seats – party votes | All seats – party votes |
| Labour Party | 40% | 27% |
| Māori Party | 15% | 1% |
| Mana Party | 12% | 1% |
| Green Party | 10% | 11% |
| NZ First Party | 10% | 7% |
| National Party | 8% | 48% |
| Other parties | 4% | 5% |
In our analysis, salient aspects of party voting in Māori electorates are:
http://www.panui.net/2011/12/05/maori-electorates-%e2%80%93-party-vote-omnibus-excerpt/
Okere Incorporation and Ruahine Kuharua Incorporation have signed agreements with Mighty River Power to enable initial exploration and a feasibility study of geothermal energy on the Taheke field, 20km northeast of Rotorua. The agreement, which will be known as Te ia a Tutea Development, provides for long-term co-ownership of any future development in the Taheke field.
From week ending 11 November 2011
http://www.panui.net/2011/11/11/geothermal-exploration-and-feasibility-study-agreement-signed-omnibus-excerpt/
Hautaki Trust, Te Huarahi Tika Māori Spectrum Trust, and 2degrees have created a scholarship and graduate programme for Māori studying information and communications technology at Auckland University. Vodafone have also announced it will extend its current graduate programme by allocating an additional five places for Māori graduates. These announcements follow the establishment of Ngā Pū Waea, the Māori Broadband Working Group, and are clear examples of the early results arising from the efforts of this group.
http://www.panui.net/2011/11/11/telecommunication-companies-offer-maori-scholarship-and-graduate-programmes-omnibus-excerpt/
Last week the Māori spectrum entity, Te Huarahi Tika Trust, clarified that they prefer an allocation of fourth generation radio spectrum with cash, when the spectrum is auctioned in 2012. Communications Minister, Steven Joyce, has publicly indicated that the Government will allocate some of the radio spectrum to Māori, for both Māori language purposes and for Māori development. The sale of fourth generation spectrum is expected to generate at least $120 million for the Government. The key question is what quantum of this will be allocated to Māori to meet Treaty of Waitangi obligations (and second, how Māori are able to negotiate that).
In July we provided a full outline of policy affecting Māori interests in spectrum (see Pānui July 22, 2011). At that time Vodafone suggested that Māori should receive cash from the sale (not frequency allocations) because they felt Māori interests have been, and should remain, fully aligned with 2Degrees. We will provide a further update on this matter once Government intent is clearer.
From week ending 14 October 2011
http://www.panui.net/2011/10/17/te-huarahi-tika-interested-in-fourth-generation-spectrum-allocation-omnibus-excerpt/
