It’s a throwaway line pretending to be a throwaway joke (in the loosest sense of the word). What it reveals is incredibly worrying, writes Leonie Hayden.
It’s a fairly typical episode of Seven Sharp. A tragic tale of forestry worker deaths told sensitively by Maiki Sherman. Some quite interesting stats around what election issues people are talking about on social media. Banter-y banter between Mike the Hosking and Toni the Street about TVNZ’s online political tool VoteCompass, Street observing that she and nearly everyone she’s talked to has been surprised by their results.
And then, Mike Hosking asks if her problem is “the fact that you can’t vote for the Māori Party, because you’re not enrolled in the Māori electorates.”
Wait a goddammed Mike’s Minute.
Does the man who will be moderating all three of TVNZ’s leaders debates not know that anyone on the general or Māori electoral rolls can vote for the Māori Party? Does he think that those of us on the Māori roll have a separate list of parties to cast our party vote for? Does he think only Mana Movement and the Māori Party are on that list? And what is the joke? Ahahahaha obviously you wouldn’t vote for the Māori Party WHAT A RIOT.
So many questions.
Kia ora @ToniStreet Mike wasn’t correct tonight-You CAN vote for Maori Party even tho you aren’t on Maori Roll. @SevenSharp @FoxMarama
— Te Ururoa Flavell MP (@TeUruroaFlavell) August 23, 2017
Poor Toni channels all of us in her baffled response: “What are you even talking about? Good luck with those debates.”
It’s OK T-Street, I’m here to help with a handy list of people who can also vote for the Māori Party (provided they’re enrolled). Hosko can strap it to his leg and cheat off it during the debates:
- Māori
- Non-Māori
- Members of other parties
- Sensitive poets
- People that breed weird hairless cats
- National treasure Rachel Hunter
- Your mate with the truck that always has to help people move house
- All of the members of Six60
- Amateur comedians
- My friend Fiona who lives in the USA
- Mike Hosking
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