Letters: Treaty of Waitangi, electoral system

Maori representation is a topic of today's letters to the editor. Photo/ File

Purpose of Treaty

Under a heading "Accord with Maori special" Peter Dey disputes the view of Bruce Moon (Letters, December 13) that the Treaty of Waitangi does not grant Maori a special relationship with the Crown is not shared by our Parliament.

He then writes that for the past 40 years our Parliament has accepted there is a special partnership between the Crown and Maori.

Peter claims that Parliament, ie politicians, have not found it creditable which may be so.

With career survival at stake, I suspect political expedience has been exercised as needed.

Surely of the purpose of the Treaty, the one signed at Waitangi on February 6, 1840, was to set up a democracy where all citizens had equal rights, even former slaves.

Perhaps Peter should read the book recently publish entitled Twisting the Treaty.

I have and now realise what has been occurring behind the scenes.

Will Goldsmith
Pyes Pa

Is it democracy?
Mr Day's letter (Letters, January 4) and his explanation that the electoral system is biased and his sense of wrong against Maori with under representations on councils has short comings.

Let's take a look at the Rotorua District Council. Three Maori elected as councillors, one
Indian elected, and six white councillors out of 10 with a mayor sympathetic to the Maori cause.

There is plenty of rhetoric about how bad democracy is but short on facts. How did Maori and an Indian get elected in Rotorua? Please explain.

Where was the anti-Maori bias? Though it is all very well for us to have our varying views on matters but at the end of the day it still has to be based on the facts available.

The mention of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council as a success story on Maori Wards becomes another story and does little credit to those who perpetrated the process from behind the scenes.

There was no vote taken of ratepayers who foot the bill, or their opinions solicited at the time and was permitted to slip through and councillors who voted for it does them no
credit.

So much for democracy.

Mike Lally
Te Puke

Thank you
I would like to thank Tommy Wilson (BOP Times, January 1) for his generous comments to me and BOP Times for publishing Tommy's views.

In my opinion, the further comments about Maori electoral wards by Mike Lally (Letters, December 26) are still not convincing.

The claim that Maori wards are not a democratic level playing field is countered by the simple fact that Parliament has legalised them.

Figures from all over New Zealand show that local council elections favour non-Maori candidates.

Removing anti-Maori bias is not an extra advantage to Maori. The claim that Maori wards will encourage patronage and payback for Maori voters has no supporting evidence.

In my opinion the nine councillors who supported Maori wards have shown wisdom, foresight, and inter-racial goodwill.

Maori wards provide no material gain to Maori and no material loss to non-Maori, just goodwill to everybody at no cost to anybody.

Peter Dey
Welcome Bay