Election 2023: TOP leader Raf Manji on Māori issues and why Treaty referendum doesn’t make sense

The Opportunities Party leader Raf Manji. Photo / George Heard

The Opportunities Party leader Raf Manji says having a referendum on the Treaty of Waitangi is a “silly” idea and no one would support it.

It comes following Act’s campaign for a referendum on the Treaty as a non-negotiable for forming a government in coalition with the National Party.

In an interview with Moana Maniapoto, Manji said, “There’s not going to be a referendum on the Treaty because no one’s going to support it, because it doesn’t actually make sense and it doesn’t make sense in a legal sense either.”

Act leader David Seymour has argued that what the Treaty means in the future should be up for public debate. He also challenged the notion of tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti.

“[It] has never been properly debated in New Zealand at large. It’s certainly been debated within the Waitangi Tribunal, within the courts, but not by the public,” Seymour said.

But Manji said, “You can’t have a referendum on a treaty. I mean, a treaty is something that is signed at a particular point in time and needs to be enforced and adhered to.”

He says if there is to be a conversation about the role of the Treaty in New Zealand it needs to be done “properly” and not by aholding a referendum.

“Let’s have a constitutional conversation. I think the problem is we’ve made this as a political football and I don’t think that’s very helpful because politicians come and go. These treaties are enduring and long-term.”

The Opportunities Party (TOP) was founded in 2016 by businessman and economist Gareth Morgan. He resigned as leader three months after the party failed to secure a seat in the 2017 election.

Since then TOP has flown below the radar but Manji is adamant that Parliament is desperately in need of a fresh voice. He’s running for the Ilam electorate in Christchurch and says if TOP does make it into government, he’d be happy to work with any other parties in a coalition.

On the Māori Health Authority

National leader Christopher Luxon and Act’s David Seymour both say they would scrap the Māori Health Authority if they win the election.

Manji said TOP’s position is that he didn’t think the Māori Health Authority was needed in the first place, and Whānau Ora could have delivered the same outcomes, “but now that it has been set up, let’s see how it goes.”

“We know that because of colonisation, because of dispossession, because of economic and poverty issues, Māori have had poor outcomes. How are we going to solve that? If somebody comes and tells me we think [the Māori Health Authority] is going to solve those problems, I’m going to go ‘Fine. Show me the evidence and show me how it’s working.”

While TOP has no Māori members, Manji says the Treaty is part of its constitution in terms of its basic principles.

“We have Māori involved in our policy development. We have a Māori member on our board. Our focus is the economic opportunities for Maori dealing with poverty… That’s where our focus is because I think that’s where we can impact the most.”