The foreshore and seabed debate is back for the umpteenth time with a claim for customary rights lodged in the High Court. And right on cue Māori are cast as seeking to destroy the Kiwi dream holiday. How about starting with some less stupid questions, suggests Morgan Godfery.
And here we are, the foreshore and seabed debate, version 661, where the most important question is: what does this mean for my summer tanning schedule? Never mind, you know, Māori, all I want to know is whether I can race my Toyota Hilux down Ninety Mile Beach, cast my long line off the Coromandel Coast, or coma out at Mt Maunganui on New Year’s Eve. These are the questions I care about. These are the questions Kiwis care about. Where’s the number for Newstalk ZB?
In some ways, this is taking the piss – no one’s worried about their God-given right to hoon down Ninety Mile beach, except on talkback radio – but in other ways it’s dead serious. Every time the country debates the foreshore and seabed someone, like The Project’s Jesse Mulligan, will ask whether “Māori claims to the coastline” mean some Kiwis will find themselves “banned from the beach”. Don Brash will emerge somewhere at some point.
The government will talk it down, whispering sweet assurance to Pākehā New Zealand. “I don’t think [Maanu Paul’s] got a chance in the world,” said Attorney-General Chris Finlayson of the claim lodged in the High Court. Yet this strikes me as a bizarre beginning and end. Instead of asking why iwi, hapu and some individuals are making claims in the first place, parts of the media speculate about What It Means For You and the Government comes out to reassure people It Doesn’t Mean Much At all.
If you’re non-Māori, I assume this is vaguely comforting. You’re not going to arrive at the family bach and find the local hapū squatting in the master bedroom. But for many Māori there’s a great deal of psychic harm knowing your rights are another person’s political fear. People who took to the streets to protest the last Labour government’s Foreshore and Seabed Act, a law designed to prevent iwi and hapū establishing customary title to the foreshore and seabed, were condemned as “haters and wreckers”.
The Hikoi protesting seabed and foreshore legislation, April 2004. Photo by Michael Bradley/Getty Images
I’m sure some people (Hobson’s Pledge!) think much worse of Maanu Paul, a member of the New Zealand Māori Council who’s lodging a “claim on behalf of all Māori” for customary rights and customary marine title to the foreshore and seabed. You’ll notice this isn’t an application for “ownership”. Under the Marine and Coastal Area Act, the law that replaced the racist Foreshore and Seabed Act, no one can “own” the foreshore and seabed, meaning no one can “ban” you from it. But of course that doesn’t stop anyone speculating that this is precisely what’s going to happen.
(Well, minor qualification: in theory private owners can “ban” you from “their” beach. Both the Foreshore and Seabed Act and the Marine and Coastal Area Act left private titles to the foreshore and seabed intact while Māori rights were, in the first Act, practically extinguished, and in the second Act, reaffirmed but transformed. Private titles were probably left alone because they were, you know, mostly in the hands of people who were really, really rich and white. But of course no one talks about this.)
The problem with the foreshore and seabed debate, from version 1 to the current installment, is the qualities we cherish in our democracy we condemn in our politics. We revere a kind of abstract equality, but we hesitate when it means substantive rights for Māori. There are plenty of intellectuals and politicians who applaud the rule of law, yet few who supported the rule of law so much that they opposed the Foreshore and Seabed Act in 2004. Maybe if we had this discussion on principles rather than fear, we might get a little further than we are.
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Maybe if we put Māori views first, rather than stupid questions about whether we’re banned from the beaches this summer, we might even resolve it.
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Oh the drama! The suspense! The daggers at each other’s throats! While Labour Party stalwarts mop up the blood after last night’s ’emergency discussions’ to review the importance of Willie Jackson, Simon Wilson takes a scalpel to the outcome.
So Willie wasn’t going to die wondering, was he? Didn’t think 21st on the Labour list was good enough to secure him a job as MP, so he charged down to Wellington to force them into the most embarrassing situation since, well, the last embarrassing situation. He thought the party leader had assured him of a “high place” on the list, which would guarantee him a return to parliament. Speaking to media this morning, he said that he was unhappy, too, with the rankings of Māori candidates. There are three in the top 21, but none in the top 15. “I believe Māori should be in the top 10 or 15,” said Jackson, who has also been announced as campaign director for the Māori seats, presumably to help placate him.
But the big takeout from the Labour list (scroll down for the full rankings) is really that the newbie candidates likely to become MPs are, on the whole, an impressive bunch. Labour has moved to fix a problem at the last election, when they failed to renew well. On RNZ today Andrew Little said they were “rubbish” at it in 2014, and the consequence is that the party is a little short of talented and experienced MPs this time round. But then, you could say that about all the parties, including the government incumbents.
First, how it works. Every candidate who wins an electorate seat becomes an MP. And under MMP, the size of each party’s caucus corresponds to the percentage of their total party votes. There are 120 seats in parliament, which means if Labour gets, say, 30% of the party vote it will have 30% of 120, which is 36 seats.
The critical question for a list MP is how many electorate MPs in their party get in, because the number of list MPs is the party’s total number minus its electorate MPs.
(If a party wins more electorate seats than its party vote would entitle it to, it keeps those seats and there is an “overhang”: the size of Parliament grows. We currently have an overhang of one seat – 121 seats in all – caused by United Future winning the electorate of Ohariu but almost no party votes. For the purposes of this exercise I have assumed no overhang.)
So the first question when looking down the lists is what percentage of the party vote is achieved, and the second is how many electorate MPs win.
Labour is currently tracking at about 30%. Let’s call that the mid-range result or the likely result. That won’t be good enough for Labour: good is 35% and very good is 40%. Poor is 25%.
Labour Party president Nigel Haworth addresses media following the list publication. Photo: Labour.org.nz
A good result
Let’s look at that good result first: 35% of the party vote. That will give them 42 MPs.
Definitely going to be MPs
My count of the candidates in “safe” electorate seats, who are likely to win regardless of how well or badly the party does, is 22.
They are: Jacinda Ardern, David Clark, Clare Curran, Ruth Dyson, Paul Eagle, Kris Fa’afoi, Peeni Henare, Chris Hipkins, Iain Lees-Galloway, Nanaia Mahuta, Damien O’Connor, Grant Robertson, Deborah Russell, Jenny Salesa, Carmel Sepuloni, Rino Tirikatene, Phil Twyford, Aupito William Sio, Louisa Wall, Poto Williams, Michael Wood and Megan Woods.
Probably going to be MPs
In addition, if Labour gets 35% support it will win quite a few marginals. That would probably include most of these: Ginny Anderson in Hutt South, Kelvin Davis in Te Tai Tokerau, Steph Lewis in Whanganui, Stuart Nash in Napier, Greg O’Connor in Ōhāriu, Priyanca Radhakrishnan in Maungakiekie, Adrian Ruawhe in Te Tai Hauāuru, Duncan Webb in Christchurch Central, Meka Whaitiri in Ikaroa-Rāwhiti.
That’s another nine, of whom, let’s say, seven make it (the two probably most at risk are Lewis and Radhakrishnan). That’s 29 MPs, with a male-female ratio of 17:12. Noticeably more men than women.
This is relevant because Labour now has a 50:50 gender rule. The party looks at its likely electorate winners and uses the list to try to even out any imbalance. That means, this year, more women are on the list in the winnable higher spots than men.
No, it’s not a “man ban”. Men are obviously not banned. It’s gender balancing to reflect the party’s desire to overcome unconscious and historical biases, and if you’re worried about that ask yourself if there’s a better way of getting roughly equal numbers of men and women in Parliament.
Yes, it does frustrate the ambitions of some male candidates and their supporters. But it will also delight some women candidates and their supporters. And is there anyone who wants to argue our Parliament will be worse off for having more women in it? Didn’t think so.
So with 35 percent support, and assuming those seven marginal victories, Labour will bring in 13 MPs from its list. They are Andrew Little, David Parker, Priyanca Radhakrishnan, Raymond Huo, Jan Tinetti, Willow-Jean Prime, Kiri Allan, Willie Jackson, Jo Luxton, Liz Craig, Marja Lubeck, Trevor Mallard and Tamati Coffey.
The caucus would have a male-female ratio of 23:19, which isn’t 50:50. Willie Jackson at 21 is a shoo-in and there are no really prominent candidates who miss out.
A par result
But what if the party gets only 30%? The caucus would have 36 MPs, including all 22 named above in the safe seats. But it would win fewer of the marginals (perhaps dropping Anderson, Ruawhe and Webb from the electorate lineup). With a core of 26 electorate MPs, there is room for another 10 from the list.
Anderson is ranked at 27 and would get in on the list; Webb is ranked at 42 and would miss out; Ruawhe is a Maori electorate MP, all of whom have elected not to be on the list.
Those to miss out are Tamati Coffey, Trevor Mallard and Marja Lubeck. But Willie Jackson is safe. The gender ratio is 19:17.
A poor result
And if Labour repeats its performance from 2014 and gets, say, only 25%? That will mean 30 MPs in all, including those 22 in safe seats but probably none of those in the marginals. There would be eight list MPs, meaning Liz Craig, Jo Luxton, Ginny Anderson and Willie Jackson all miss out. Jackson would be the highest-ranked unsuccessful candidate. The gender ratio is 15:15.
A miracle result
Oh, and if you think all this is way too harsh and Labour will win 40%? That’s 48 MPs. They get all the safe seats and all the marginals too, for a total of 31 electorate MPs. That allows another 17 to come in from the list.
Everyone named in any part of the above will be an MP, as well as Jamie Strange, Anahila Kanongata’a-Suisuiki, Kieran McAnulty and Angie Warren-Clark.
The Māori seats
What about the Māori seats? Labour currently holds six of the seven and I’ve assumed Labour will keep them all. Despite strong challenges, as far as I can tell Kelvin Davis has the personal support and organisational strength to hold Te Tai Tokerau against Hone Harawira; Peeni Henare has the mana to see off Shane Taurima in Tamaki Makaurau and Nanaia Mahuta will do the same against Rahui Papa in Hauraki Waikato. It’s a similar story in the other Māori seats, except Waiariki, which Te Ururoa Flavell should hold easily for the Maori Party.
But this could be wrong. If it is, those Labour MPs who lose will not return to parliament on the list. They’ve all opted not to be on it.
So if there’s a swing to Labour that gives it 30% of the overall party vote, but a swing against Labour in the Māori seats, the party might lose, say, three Māori members and gain three others from the list. They would be: Tamati Coffey, Trevor Mallard and Marja Lubeck.
The future caucus
The list throws up more questions. How strong will the caucus be? And will there be factional unity?
Labour needs as many as 15 MPs who would be good ministers in a coalition cabinet. First-term MPs need not apply (even Deborah Russell, who has much-needed expertise in taxation: she’s likely to get an important non-cabinet role). However large the party vote, I think they’ve got maybe eight or nine MPs ready for cabinet, and with the potential to do the job well, among the electorate MPs. There are another three or four coming back on the list. Not quite enough. Of course, that’s true for National, too.
The Labour lineup does look far more future-proofed than it was last election, when it was clogged up with too many party hacks. The likes of Russell, school principal Jan Tinetti, police policy manager Ginny Anderson, Michael Wood (still a newbie really), policy analyst Priyanca Radhakrishnan, disputes resolution specialist Steph Lewis, Wellington deputy mayor Paul Eagle, lawyer Kiri Allan, insurance lawyer and academic Duncan Webb and local councillor Willow-Jean Prime should all add heft.
As for factional unity, it’s a red herring. A party that’s unified does well and a party that does well is unified. But a party that does badly has internal fights on its hands. While those fights have an ideological dimension, in this country they are less about the politics and more about popularity. Which leader and what policies can get us into power and keep us there? This is utterly true of National and largely true of Labour, despite some angry shouting from the sidelines.
One thing that should be very clear: Labour desperately wants to form the next government. They really hate being in opposition. Its party list is full of people who are, on the whole, determined to do their bit to help the party succeed. Andrew Little might not have succeeded in having Willie Jackson placed as high as he wanted, but he was never going to allow Jackson or anyone else to push the party around once it was decided. The determination remains, and there’s a little lesson in that for Jackson.
The Labour list in full
1 Andrew Little
2 Jacinda Ardern
3 Grant Robertson
4 Phil Twyford
5 Megan Woods
6 Chris Hipkins
7 Carmel Sepuloni
8 David Clark
9 David Parker
10 Stuart Nash
11 Priyanca Radhakrishnan
12 Raymond Huo
13 Iain Lees-Galloway
14 Jan Tinetti
15 Aupito William Sio
16 Willow-Jean Prime
17 Damien O’Connor
18 Jenny Salesa
19 Kris Faafoi
20 Kiri Allan
21 Willie Jackson
22 Clare Curran
23 Ruth Dyson
24 Poto Williams
25 Louisa Wall
26 Michael Wood
27 Ginny Andersen
28 Jo Luxton
29 Deborah Russell
30 Liz Craig
31 Marja Lubeck
32 Trevor Mallard
33 Paul Eagle
34 Tamati Coffey
35 Jamie Strange
36 Anahila Kanongata’a-Suisuiki
37 Kieran McAnulty
38 Angie Warren-Clark
39 Helen White
40 Greg O’Connor
41 Steph Lewis
42 Duncan Webb
43 Lemauga Lydia Sosene
44 Janette Walker
45 Anna Lorck
46 Romy Udanga
47 Rachel Boyack
48 Sarb Johal
49 Naisi Chen
50 Shanan Halbert
51 Dan Rosewarne
52 Jin An
53 Jesse Pabla
54 Hilary Humphrey
55 Tony Savage
56 Brooke Loader
57 Ben Sandford
58 Kurt Taogaga
59 Heather Warren
60 Sam McDonald
61 Cherie Chapman
62 Ala’ Al-Bustanji
63 Baljit Kaur
64 Linsey Higgins
65 Barry Kirker
66 Tofik Mamedov
67 Michelle Lomax
68 Nathaniel Blomfield
69 Gaurav Sharma
70 Anthony Rimell
71 Tony Condon
72 Sarah Packer
73 Andy Begg
74 Corie Haddock
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