tag:theconversation.com,2011:/nz/topics/nanaia-mahuta-95568/articlesNanaia Mahuta – The Conversation2022-06-20T01:35:41Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1852042022-06-20T01:35:41Z2022-06-20T01:35:41ZA New Pacific Reset? Why NZ must prioritise climate change and labour mobility<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469398/original/file-20220617-22-txo2j0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C8%2C5955%2C3952&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Australia's minister for foreign affairs, Penny Wong, discussed Pacific affairs with her New Zealand counterpart, Nanaia Mahuta, in Wellington, June 16.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The frequent use of the term “shared values” to describe developments in the Pacific tends to obscure a distinct shift in New Zealand and Australian relations with their Pacific partners over the past two decades.</p>
<p>This shift has seen a move away from ready acceptance by Pacific nations of policy prescriptions reflecting “developed country” priorities, towards a greater insistence on New Zealand and Australian support for policies generated by those Pacific partners themselves.</p>
<p>This shift has now been recognised by New Zealand’s foreign minister, Nanaia Mahuta, and more recently by Australia’s new foreign minister, Penny Wong, during her visit to New Zealand last week, giving credibility to a <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/australian-foreign-minister-penny-wong-says-nz-has-unique-and-powerful-voice-in-pacific/5JIY3MCCVYJCGH7NUHBZ4FRKSY/">renewed Australian focus</a> on the “Pacific family”.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most obvious expression of those Pacific priorities and values relates to climate change. This existential challenge to island nations has been given the highest priority by Pacific governments, but has also been by far the most divisive factor in recent Australia and New Zealand relations with the Pacific.</p>
<p>Successive Australian leaders have refused to consider commitments to climate change policies that Pacific countries see as critical to their long-term survival. Australian officials have worked to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-accord-australia-idUSKBN1YH1QC">weaken the outcomes</a> of international climate change conferences.</p>
<p>Frustrated by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/15/australia-waters-down-pacific-islands-plea-on-climate-crisis">Australia’s resistance</a> to using the Pacific Islands Forum to demand more meaningful action on climate change, Pacific countries have felt compelled to seek participation in other international groups and forums where their priorities could be unambiguously advanced. </p>
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<p>Against this background, Wong’s post-election <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-27/new-foreign-minister-penny-wong-makes-pitch-to-pacific/101104730">dash to Fiji</a> was a necessary and timely “save”. Her catch-cry of “we have heard you and we are listening” crucially signalled a coming change in Australia’s climate change stance. </p>
<p>A new regional convergence on climate change policy will remove a major irritant from Pacific relations and create a solid foundation for the partnership’s future. But ongoing commitment by Australia and New Zealand to climate change policies that are fit for purpose will be essential for its durability.</p>
<h2>Fiji’s growing influence</h2>
<p>Fiji’s evolving position has been an important factor in the widening of Pacific states’ international relations.</p>
<p>Following the 2006 coup, Fiji reacted to tensions with Australia and New Zealand by aggressively pursuing a “<a href="https://www.fiji.gov.fj/Media-Centre/News/GOVERNMENT-COMMITTED-TO-LOOK-NORTH-POLICY">Look North</a>” policy. It intensified trade and development partnerships with East Asian and other non-Western states (including China) and pressured other Pacific governments to follow its lead. </p>
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<p>While Fiji eventually moved away from its adversarial stance towards Australia and New Zealand, the legacy of that policy remains, in expanded connections with China and other non-Western countries. </p>
<p>In recent years, relations between New Zealand and Fiji have been progressively normalised. This is reflected, for example, in Fiji’s participation along with New Zealand and other partners in the proposed Agreement on Climate Change Trade and Sustainability (<a href="https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/trade/free-trade-agreements/trade-and-climate/agreement-on-climate-change-trade-and-sustainability-accts-negotiations/">ACCTS</a>). It was further cemented by New Zealand’s support for Fiji’s COVID vaccine rollout. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/after-many-false-dawns-australians-finally-voted-for-stronger-climate-action-heres-why-this-election-was-different-183645">After many false dawns, Australians finally voted for stronger climate action. Here's why this election was different</a>
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<p>In the meantime, Fiji has engaged energetically in international climate change diplomacy, positioning itself as a global champion of the Pacific’s priorities. This has enhanced its leadership credentials among Pacific Island Forum members, further amplified this year by its status as forum chair.</p>
<p>The visits to Fiji earlier this year by New Zealand cabinet ministers Peeni Henare and Nanaia Mahuta, and the resulting <a href="https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/media-and-resources/new-zealand-fiji-statement-of-partnership-2022-2025/">Duavata Declaration</a>, reflected both the realities of the renewed partnership and the modern regional role of both countries.</p>
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<h2>Understanding China’s misstep</h2>
<p>China’s <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/468178/china-pacific-islands-unable-to-reach-consensus-on-security-pact">recent failure</a> to secure Pacific nations’ support for its proposed agreement on regional governance and security was greeted with relief by observers in New Zealand. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-meet-the-chinese-challenge-in-the-pacific-nz-needs-to-put-its-money-where-its-mouth-is-184315">To meet the Chinese challenge in the Pacific, NZ needs to put its money where its mouth is</a>
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<p>But it’s important to recognise that failure was also a salutary demonstration of Pacific governments’ insistence that policies affecting the region must be based on decisions by those governments themselves, reflecting their own priorities. </p>
<p>New Zealand has been wise to recognise this and allow space for regional governments to build consensus on relevant issues ahead of the coming meeting of Pacific Island Forum leaders. </p>
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Read more:
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<h2>Progress needed on labour mobility</h2>
<p>Looking to the future, the greatest potential contribution New Zealand can make to Pacific development lies in the expansion and broadening of labour mobility arrangements with Pacific partners. This has the added advantage that China will not realistically be able to match such arrangements.</p>
<p>The impact of Pacific seasonal workers’ absence during the pandemic highlighted their importance to the New Zealand economy. </p>
<p>Consultation should now take place both internally and with Pacific partners to design and implement an expanded range of labour mobility arrangements that both support Pacific development aspirations and deliver an economic benefit to New Zealand. </p>
<p>During the recent Australian election campaign, both major parties indicated their <a href="https://devpolicy.org/labour-mobility-campaign-wrap-20220519/">intention to move ahead</a> on this issue. It’s one area – among others – where New Zealand should not be seen to lag behind.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185204/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Scollay does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Pacific nations are increasingly setting their own agendas, meaning Australia and New Zealand are having to learn to listen.Robert Scollay, Honorary Associate Professor of Economics, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1611892021-05-25T19:35:15Z2021-05-25T19:35:15ZAustralia is pursuing a more Indigenous-focused foreign policy. But does it miss the bigger picture?<p>Foreign policy is an expression of a state’s fundamental values. It’s the outward face of every government, representing its aspirations in the international system. A state’s foreign policy can often convey strength, but also reveal weakness.</p>
<p>While Australia has enjoyed a strong international standing in recent decades, there has been no real recognition within our foreign policy of the diverse First Nations that have long inhabited this land.</p>
<p>First Nations people are excluded from this external dialogue, and it is well past time this changed.</p>
<h2>A history of exclusion</h2>
<p>As a proud Wiradjuri man, I know all too well this feeling of exclusion for First Nations people, both here and overseas. Our views on foreign policy are <a href="https://opencanada.org/erasure-indigenous-thought-foreign-policy/">routinely considered irrelevant</a>, our contributions not valued, and our issues ignored. </p>
<p>Yet, First Nations people have so much to offer. We have 80,000 years of diplomatic practice on this continent, conducting effective foreign policies <a href="http://blogs.shu.edu/journalofdiplomacy/files/2020/03/Sheelagh-Daniels-Mayes-and-Kristina-Sehlin-MacNeil-Indigenous-Diplomacies-in-Australia-and-Sweden-.pdf">long before there were states or even the concept of foreign policies</a>. We have a strong value system centred in country, community, and culture. </p>
<p>This is why Australia should consider a foreign policy approach centred on Indigenous people and perspectives. It would reset the tired approach we currently take on the world stage and give weight to First Nations desires and aspirations.</p>
<p>These desires are the same ones that guided the <a href="https://ulurustatement.org/the-statement">Uluru Statement From the Heart</a> four years ago today, and the call for a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament — the desire to be heard and for our ideas and views to help shape the overall direction of this nation. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-voice-to-parliament-isnt-a-new-idea-indigenous-activists-called-for-it-nearly-a-century-ago-122272">The Voice to Parliament isn't a new idea - Indigenous activists called for it nearly a century ago</a>
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<h2>Moving towards an Indigenous foreign policy</h2>
<p>In a step forward, the Department of Foreign Affairs has launched a new <a href="https://www.dfat.gov.au/sites/default/files/indigenous-diplomacy-agenda.pdf">Indigenous Diplomacy Agenda</a>, which represents one of the first examples of Australia attempting to increase the First Nations presence within our foreign policy.</p>
<p>The agenda, unveiled by DFAT Secretary Frances Adamson, soon to be <a href="https://www.premier.sa.gov.au/news/media-releases/news/south-australias-36th-governor-announced">governor of South Australia</a>, has the broad goal of “<a href="https://www.dfat.gov.au/news/speech/contribution-indigenous-australia-our-diplomacy">elevating Indigenous issues in our foreign policy</a>” and taking a more systematic approach to doing better globally by “doing better at home”. </p>
<p>To achieve this, the agenda focuses its practical steps and recommendations around four main pillars:</p>
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<li><p>shaping international norms and standards to benefit Indigenous peoples</p></li>
<li><p>maximising opportunities for Indigenous Australians and Indigenous peoples in a globalised world</p></li>
<li><p>promoting sustainable development for all Indigenous peoples</p></li>
<li><p>deploying Indigenous Australian diplomats to advance our national interests.</p></li>
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<p>These broad themes are consistent with what we hope to see within an Indigenous foreign policy approach. The agenda is highly pragmatic, and there is much to be touted here as steps in the right direction. </p>
<p>The dual focus on specific goals for First Nations people, as well as broader aims across the portfolio, is particularly commendable. The focus on the diplomatic strengths of First Nations people is also worthwhile and long overdue. </p>
<p>In many regards, this document represents a strong move in the right direction for Australian foreign policy. </p>
<h2>Examples from our neighbours</h2>
<p>Looking at the approach our neighbour New Zealand has taken, however, shows how we could be viewing things differently. </p>
<p>Earlier this year, New Zealand <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/inaugural-foreign-policy-speech-diplomatic-corps">launched a new foreign policy</a> centred around Indigenous values. By strongly embedding Maori worldviews, <em>tirohanga Maori</em>, in its outlook, the government articulated a much larger and more encompassing proposal of an Indigenous foreign policy than Australia has put forth with this agenda.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/foreign-policy-s-indigenous-moment-here">As I said at the time</a>, New Zealand’s approach was an </p>
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<p>expression of the interconnectedness and purposefulness to which all Indigenous foreign policy aspires.</p>
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<p>New Zealand’s new foreign minister, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2021/feb/04/nanaia-mahuta-new-zealands-maori-foreign-minister-is-the-perfect-diplomat">Nanaia Mahuta</a>, has talked both about her own “<a href="https://fb.watch/5BEdf_043w/00">base of lived experience</a>” as a proud Maori woman, as well as how her goal was to </p>
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<p>not only contribute to building a better society [within New Zealand], but a global community.</p>
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<p>It is this kind of overall vision which Australia should aspire to, but which is somewhat lacking from its Indigenous Diplomatic Agenda.</p>
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<img alt="Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402473/original/file-20210525-13-1px8c59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402473/original/file-20210525-13-1px8c59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402473/original/file-20210525-13-1px8c59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402473/original/file-20210525-13-1px8c59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402473/original/file-20210525-13-1px8c59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402473/original/file-20210525-13-1px8c59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402473/original/file-20210525-13-1px8c59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Nanaia Mahuta is New Zealand’s first Māori female foreign minister.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nick Perry/AP</span></span>
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<h2>The way forward</h2>
<p>There is indeed a failure of ambition with Australia’s plan. The focus is mostly around increasing the involvement of Indigenous people and strengthening specific Indigenous areas within the portfolio. </p>
<p>But this is mostly a continuation of good practices in existing policy. The claim to be a “systematic approach” for change is somewhat unfulfilled. There’s a lack of vision that misses the bigger picture. </p>
<p>First Nations people and perspectives appear mostly confined to areas related to our Indigeneity. Unlike in New Zealand, there is no recognition of Indigenous worldviews having something to offer our broader foreign policy outside of Indigenous-specific work. We are only useful when leveraging our identity.</p>
<p>The real potential of an Indigenous foreign policy approach is to create new dynamics in how Australia sees the world and new perspectives on how we act within the international system. We need to transform our overall thinking, rather than just seeking to place First Nations people within existing structures. </p>
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<p>Of course, the research on this is still very much out. Without tangible goals, it remains to be seen whether New Zealand is seriously committed to substantial change, or whether its new approach is merely an idealistic aspiration. </p>
<p>It also remains to be seen if Australia can use its new departmental reforms to work from the ground up and create a truly ambitious foreign policy.</p>
<p>New Zealand may have kick-started an “Indigenous moment” in foreign policy, but Australia has a chance to truly embrace it and transform our place in the world. We have concrete plans from our government, now we need vision.</p>
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Read more:
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Blackwell is a Member of the Australian Greens </span></em></p>Indigenous people have 80,000 years of diplomatic practice on this continent. Yet, our views on foreign policy are routinely overlooked.James Blackwell, Research Fellow (Indigenous Policy), UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1545382021-02-04T19:07:09Z2021-02-04T19:07:09ZGuaranteed Māori representation in local government is about self-determination — and it’s good for democracy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382389/original/file-20210204-18-1fvujkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C0%2C4905%2C3260&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The recent controversy over a decision by the Tauranga City Council to <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/424402/tauranga-city-council-votes-for-maori-ward">establish a Māori ward</a> reminds us that arguments about Māori political representation are nothing new.</p>
<p>In this latest case, the <a href="https://www.hobsonspledge.nz/he_iwi_tahi_tatou">Hobson’s Pledge</a> lobby group helped <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty-times/news/war-of-words-tauranga-residents-butt-heads-at-controversial-maori-ward-meeting/5QAPDKYPSD7DWRVSFDQM7KR3UA/">organise a petition</a> to overturn the council decision. It would have created an <a href="http://www.localcouncils.govt.nz/lgip.nsf/wpg_url/About-Local-Government-Participate-In-Local-Government-Voting-and-Becoming-a-Councillor#M%C4%81oriwardsandconstituencies">electoral district</a> (or ward) where only those on the Māori parliamentary electoral roll could vote for the representatives.</p>
<p>By the end of January the petition had achieved enough support to <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/435413/tauranga-maori-wards-proposal-to-go-to-referendum">force a referendum</a> under rules set out in the <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2002/0084/167.0/DLM170873.html">Local Government Act 2002</a>.</p>
<p>These rules allow councils to create new wards. But when these new wards are for voters on the Māori parliamentary electoral roll, citizens can petition the council to have the decision overturned by referendum. </p>
<p>Council decisions can’t be overturned like this in any other circumstances. Minister of Local Government Nanaia Mahuta called it “<a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/435579/changes-to-fundamentally-unfair-process-to-make-way-for-maori-wards">fundamentally unfair</a>”.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/treaty/waitangi-day">Waitangi Day</a> on February 6 approached, Mahuta announced <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/124111313/government-dumps-law-threatening-mori-wards-halts-petitions">proposed law changes</a> that would remove the process for overturning such decisions and therefore make guaranteed Māori representation more likely. This would bring councils into line with central government where <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/mi/pb/research-papers/document/00PLLawRP03141/origins-of-the-m%C4%81ori-seats">Māori seats in parliament</a> have given Māori a distinctive political voice since 1867.</p>
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<h2>Room for Māori to be Māori</h2>
<p>Hobson’s Pledge takes its name from New Zealand’s first governor, <a href="https://nzhistory.govt.nz/people/william-hobson">William Hobson</a>, who signed the <a href="https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/treaty/the-treaty-in-brief">Treaty of Waitangi</a> on behalf of the crown. After signing, Hobson greeted each of the chiefs with the words “he iwi tahi tatau”.</p>
<p>Hobson’s Pledge translates this phrase as “we are one people”, to support the argument that New Zealand should be a politically homogeneous state. It shouldn’t separate “ratepayers into ‘Maori’ and the ‘rest of us’”. Unity is the product of sameness. </p>
<p>However, political homegeneity inevitably also means cultural homogeneity. There would be no room for Māori to be Māori.</p>
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<img alt="Don Brash speaking with microphone" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382387/original/file-20210204-22-mdnrlz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382387/original/file-20210204-22-mdnrlz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382387/original/file-20210204-22-mdnrlz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382387/original/file-20210204-22-mdnrlz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382387/original/file-20210204-22-mdnrlz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382387/original/file-20210204-22-mdnrlz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382387/original/file-20210204-22-mdnrlz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Hobson’s Pledge spokesperson and former MP Don Brash speaking at Waitangi in 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">GettyImages</span></span>
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<p>While the treaty doesn’t specify distinctive representation, it does help give effect to the rights and privileges of citizenship the agreement promised. </p>
<p>In turn, this helps Māori ensure council decisions uphold the rights of <a href="http://www.journal.mai.ac.nz/sites/default/files/Vol%202%20%281%29%20019%20Jackson.pdf">rangatiratanga</a> — the Māori right to authority over their own affairs — that the treaty also promised.</p>
<p>Since 2002, 24 councils have voted to establish Māori wards but referendums have overturned many of those decisions. At the next local government elections in 2022 there will (so far) be nine councils that elect members from Māori wards.</p>
<p>In the absence of Māori wards, Māori citizens vote as part of the general population. But their distinctive concerns are often obscured and subsumed by those of the non-Māori majority. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-significance-of-the-treaty-of-waitangi-110982">Explainer: the significance of the Treaty of Waitangi</a>
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<h2>The tyranny of the majority</h2>
<p>The arguments for and against distinctive Māori representation are well rehearsed. On the one hand, “one person, one vote of equal value” demands that political rights be expressed in identical fashion. </p>
<p>Equality doesn’t allow for difference. It doesn’t matter if other voters’ racism stops Māori being elected, or if other voters just don’t share culturally framed Māori views of what councils should achieve. Democracy requires the “tyranny of the majority” to prevail.</p>
<p>On the other hand, democracy developed precisely because people bring different values and perspectives to public life. Culture and colonial experiences influence people’s aspirations. They influence what people expect politics to achieve. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-treaty-of-waitangi-and-its-influence-on-identity-politics-in-new-zealand-110991">The Treaty of Waitangi and its influence on identity politics in New Zealand</a>
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<p>Democracy’s potential is to mediate, not to suppress these different perspectives. All people should be able to say they have had fair opportunities to influence the society in which they live. In this sense, democracy’s potential is to assure each person a voice rather than just a vote of equal value.</p>
<p>As my book <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-33-4172-2">Sharing the Sovereign: Indigenous Peoples, Recognition, Treaties and the State</a> argues, substantive political voice is a right of self-determination. It means all people have a share in the political authority of the state, which helps democracy work better for everybody.</p>
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<img alt="Nanaia Mahuta and Jacinda Ardern" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382388/original/file-20210204-14-3l7mqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382388/original/file-20210204-14-3l7mqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382388/original/file-20210204-14-3l7mqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382388/original/file-20210204-14-3l7mqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382388/original/file-20210204-14-3l7mqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382388/original/file-20210204-14-3l7mqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382388/original/file-20210204-14-3l7mqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta (left) with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in 2020.</span>
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<h2>A worldwide movement</h2>
<p>Self-determination is a political right that belongs to all people, not just to ethnic majorities or to the descendants of settler populations. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (<a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html">UNDRIP</a>), which John Key’s government accepted as <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/national-govt-support-un-rights-declaration">aspirationally significant</a>, <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf">defines</a> it like this:</p>
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<p>Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinct political, legal, economic, social and cultural institutions, while retaining their right to participate fully, if they so choose, in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the State.</p>
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<p>Indigenous peoples’ active participation in public life is also a matter of important public debate in Australia and Canada. </p>
<p>In Australia, <a href="https://caepr.cass.anu.edu.au/research/publications/support-constitutionally-enshrined-first-nations-voice-parliament-evidence">successive public opinion polls</a> have supported an Indigenous aspiration for a constitutionally entrenched elected body to act as a “voice to parliament”. In British Columbia, the UNDRIP is required to be implemented by <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6222331/british-columbia-passes-undrip/">law</a>. </p>
<p>Each case has lessons for New Zealand, just as the New Zealand experience is informing debates overseas — especially in <a href="https://www.aboriginalvictoria.vic.gov.au/treaty">Victoria</a>, <a href="https://www.datsip.qld.gov.au/programs-initiatives/tracks-treaty/path-treaty">Queensland</a> and the <a href="https://treatynt.com.au/">Northern Territory</a> where treaty negotiations are beginning.</p>
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<h2>The right to a political voice</h2>
<p>New Zealand is not an international outlier in saying it wants to strengthen Indigenous participation in public life. However, nobody participates as an abstract being devoid of culture and uninfluenced by political experiences like colonialism. </p>
<p>The Treaty of Waitangi and the UNDRIP imagine non-colonial societies. That requires a substantive political voice, not through other people’s tolerance, but as a matter of right. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-colonialism-be-reversed-the-uns-declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples-provides-some-answers-147017">Can colonialism be reversed? The UN's Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples provides some answers</a>
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<p>Democracy is strengthened if Māori candidates for public office can present themselves to Māori voters and be evaluated by Māori voters, in ways that make cultural sense and are responsive to the particular circumstances of prior occupancy, colonisation and culture. </p>
<p>There is still the question of whether distinctive representation should be a right of all Māori who want it, or just those who descend from the particular local government region (mana whenua). Also, should the choice to vote on the Māori parliamentary electoral roll automatically constitute a choice to vote on a Māori local government roll?</p>
<p>But from now on these points can be debated with the knowledge it won’t be possible for non-Māori voters to decide Māori can’t have a distinctive voice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154538/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dominic O'Sullivan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The struggle to establish Māori wards centres on the rights and privileges of citizenship promised in the Treaty of Waitangi.Dominic O'Sullivan, Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, and Associate Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1531942021-01-19T02:49:13Z2021-01-19T02:49:13ZTrumpism doesn’t end with Trump — NZ needs to take a firmer stand against a global threat to democracy<p>America is currently experiencing its worst political and constitutional crisis since the civil war when the very survival of Abraham Lincoln’s government “of, by and for the people” was at stake.</p>
<p>On January 6, an armed mob of thousands carrying Confederate flags, symbols of the QAnon online conspiracy cult, Trump flags and pro-Nazi insignia stormed the US Capitol building where America’s elected representatives had gathered to formally certify Joe Biden’s election victory.</p>
<p>The pro-Trump riot left five people dead, caused considerable damage and forced the Electoral College to suspend its work to finalise Biden’s election win until the early hours of January 7.</p>
<p>A week later, Donald Trump became the first president to be impeached twice, as 222 Democrats and ten Republicans in the House of Representatives <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/01/14/956621191/these-are-the-10-republicans-who-voted-to-impeach-trump">voted to indict</a> him for inciting the riot.</p>
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<h2>New Zealand’s response should be stronger</h2>
<p>If democracy is now in the balance in the US, however, it is important to recognise the consequences go far beyond American shores. So far, the response of New Zealand’s Labour government has not matched the gravity of the unfolding political crisis in America.</p>
<p>Commenting on the Capitol Hill riot, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/123890446/jacinda-ardern-on-us-capitol-riot-democracy-should-never-be-undone-by-a-mob">said</a> “what is happening is wrong” and that “the right of people to exercise a vote […] should never be undone by a mob”. “I have no doubt democracy will prevail,” she added.</p>
<p>This was a welcome but somewhat formal statement of support of liberal principles for a superpower that had just witnessed a major assault on its democratic institutions.</p>
<p>Because this grave political crisis is far from over. Around <a href="https://www.cfr.org/blog/2020-election-numbers">74 million</a> Americans voted for Donald Trump and <a href="https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2021/01/07/nearly-half-of-republicans-support-the-invasion-of-the-us-capitol">45% of Republican voters</a> indicated in a recent poll that the storming of the Capitol was justified. Clearly, a relatively large number of Americans believe Trump’s claim that the “deep state” has denied him power.</p>
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<h2>Trumpism will not go away</h2>
<p>Warnings by the FBI about <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/01/12/956145699/fbi-warns-of-inauguration-day-unrest-in-all-50-states">more political conflict</a> in the country look credible. The number of guns in private hands is staggeringly high in the US, with weapons sales going <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gun-sales-record-high-2020/">through the roof</a> in 2020.</p>
<p>Statehouses around the country and Capitol Hill before and on Inauguration Day (January 20) remain possible targets for protests by large numbers of armed pro-Trump supporters, some of whom have said they are prepared to die to prevent Biden becoming the next president.</p>
<p>Extraordinary <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/biden-inauguration-security-dc/2021/01/12/b1a9781a-54e9-11eb-89bc-7f51ceb6bd57_story.html">security preparations</a> led by the Secret Service are underway for the inauguration in Washington DC, involving more than 20,000 National Guard troops, thousands of police, and eight-foot high steel fencing.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-white-supremacist-coup-succeeded-in-1898-north-carolina-led-by-lying-politicians-and-racist-newspapers-that-amplified-their-lies-153052">A white supremacist coup succeeded in 1898 North Carolina, led by lying politicians and racist newspapers that amplified their lies</a>
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<p>There may also be a <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/law-enforcement-military-probing-whether-members-took-part-capitol-riot-n1253801">significant number</a> of people in law enforcement, military and security roles who have violent white supremacist sympathies that could compromise any effort by the federal authorities to deal with the outbreak of political violence.</p>
<p>US authorities are reported to be conducting <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/military-inauguration-extremist-threat/2021/01/17/ed8885ba-593a-11eb-aaad-93988621dd28_story.html;">insider-threat screening</a> on the National Guard troops arriving to secure the capital amid <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/republicans-capitol-rioters/2021/01/13/9737a336-55e2-11eb-a931-5b162d0d033d_story.html">growing suspicions</a> that some Republican lawmakers provided tours around the Capitol complex for certain groups that subsequently participated in the riots.</p>
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<h2>The warning of Christchurch</h2>
<p>While the Ardern government’s stance so far reflects the traditional diplomatic norms of non-interference in the domestic affairs of another sovereign state, such concern is misplaced in this context.</p>
<p>The threat presented by violent white supremacists is not confined to the US. It should not be forgotten that less than two years ago New Zealand experienced the worst terrorist atrocity in its history when an Australian white supremacist murdered 51 at two mosques in Christchurch.</p>
<p>The Christchurch shooter was motivated in part by the racist and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/01/christchurch-trial-new-zealand-media-agree-to-curb-white-supremacy-coverage">white nationalist views</a> circulating in certain forums on social media and largely shared by those members of the US extreme right associated with the Capitol Hill rampage.</p>
<p>New Zealand and other liberal democracies should stop assuming the new Biden administration can fix a transnational problem like white supremacist terror on its own.</p>
<h2>International cooperation needed</h2>
<p>In today’s globalised world, all states are confronted by security, economic, environmental and health challenges that do not respect territorial borders and cannot be resolved unilaterally by great powers.</p>
<p>The incoming Biden administration has signalled it wants to expand international cooperation to address shared problems. It clearly has a <a href="https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/biden-new-zealands-ardern-discuss-covid-19-other-issues-congratulatory-call">high regard</a> for Ardern’s leadership after her compassionate and decisive handling of the Christchurch terrorist atrocity and the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/white-supremacists-who-stormed-us-capitol-are-only-the-most-visible-product-of-racism-152295">White supremacists who stormed US Capitol are only the most visible product of racism</a>
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<p>At this critical time, therefore, it is important the prime minister and Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta use New Zealand’s enhanced global profile to play a more active role in challenging the narrative of hate, racism and intolerance that threatens the US and other liberal democracies.</p>
<p>In particular, the New Zealand government needs to speak out clearly and firmly against Trump’s refusal to accept the legitimacy of a democratic election, which has done so much to bolster the cause of extreme white nationalism.</p>
<p>Unless New Zealand and other like-minded states are prepared to do more in the battle of ideas with Trumpism, there is no guarantee democracy will prevail in this struggle.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153194/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert G. Patman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Incoming US president Joe Biden can’t mend a broken US democracy alone. Other liberal democracies, including NZ, need to get involved.Robert G. Patman, Professor of International Relations, University of OtagoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1492732020-11-03T00:37:20Z2020-11-03T00:37:20ZCan New Zealand’s most diverse ever cabinet improve representation of women and minorities in general?<p>Two weeks after Labour’s landslide election win, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a ministry that is more diverse than any seen before in New Zealand. </p>
<p>Of those inside cabinet, 40% are women, 25% are Māori (two in five of those are women), 15% are Pasifika (two in three are women), and 15% are LGBTQI — one of whom is Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson. </p>
<p>Beyond the 20 cabinet ministers, there are four ministers outside cabinet and two undersecretaries. Of these six, three are women, two are Māori, one is Pasifika and one is Indian. Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and James Shaw are also associate ministers outside cabinet. The diversity of Ardern’s new government runs deep.</p>
<p>There remain important voices missing from cabinet, however. As Jonny Wilkinson of disability support network <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/jonny-wilkinson-election-2020-results-good-for-diversity-but-disability-voice-missing/HA5G2SHS5GIQIEHIAHVWPIOAYQ/">Tiaho Trust</a> noted, disabled people are the largest minority group in New Zealand but they lack representation in parliament and cabinet. </p>
<h2>Greater diversity over time</h2>
<p>In 2017 Ardern set herself a target of a <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/342022/ardern-vows-to-improve-cabinet-gender-balance">gender balanced</a> cabinet. She missed achieving this in 2020 despite demands for, and achievement of, increased <a href="https://www.iknowpolitics.org/en/learn/knowledge-resources/data-and-statistics/gender-parity-cabinets-are-rise">gender parity</a> in government executive branches globally in recent years.</p>
<p>As the proportion of women in parliament increases, it is argued, so too does the pool of eligible candidates from which the prime minister can select women ministers. </p>
<p>Some leaders have ignored this, including former Australian prime minister <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/16/women-cabinet-abbott">Tony Abbott</a>, who claimed there were insufficient women parliamentarians with the experience needed for cabinet. That position has become increasingly untenable over time. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/her-cabinet-appointed-jacinda-ardern-now-leads-one-of-the-most-powerful-governments-nz-has-seen-148984">Her cabinet appointed, Jacinda Ardern now leads one of the most powerful governments NZ has seen</a>
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<p>While large scale comparative studies suggest women leaders are no more likely than their male counterparts to select women ministers, in New Zealand we know that it was Labour’s Helen Clark who substantially increased the proportion of women promoted to cabinet (from 11% in 1996 to 35% in 1999). </p>
<p>National Party Prime Minister John Key followed her example, ensuring his cabinets comprised at least 30% women. Ardern has moved the bar higher by selecting 40% women. </p>
<h2>The gender quota debate</h2>
<p>That we have yet to reach gender parity may raise questions in New Zealand and elsewhere. However, our major parties have long resisted implementing strict gender quotas, meaning incremental progress is the norm. That said, our global gender ranking has gone from 50th equal to <a href="https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/library/publications/2020/women-in-politics-map-2020-en.pdf?la=en&vs=827">26th equal</a>.</p>
<p>This contrasts with Canada’s Justin Trudeau, who in 2015 made history when he selected his <a href="https://pacificoutlier.org/2015/11/05/matthew-kerby-and-jennifer-curtin-gender-parity-and-the-2015-canadian-federal-cabinet-trudeaus-first-history-making-moment/">first gender parity</a> cabinet. There had been criticism of the policy by pundits who argued diversity and merit could not co-exist, but Trudeau’s response was pithy: “Because it’s 2015.” </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-mp-ibrahim-omers-election-highlights-the-challenges-refugees-from-africa-face-in-new-zealand-148621">New MP Ibrahim Omer's election highlights the challenges refugees from Africa face in New Zealand</a>
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<p>Five years on, Ardern may have anticipated similar resistance. Asked about the basis of her cabinet selection, she said it was based on “merit, talent and diversity”. Gender balance was the byproduct, in other words. </p>
<p>We also know that not all ministries are created equal. Globally it is finance, foreign affairs, defence and other highly resourced portfolios that are most prized. These usually make up the leader’s inner circle (remember former Labour Prime Minister David Lange’s all male “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_and_Chip_Brigade">fish and chip brigade</a>”). </p>
<p>However, the Interparliamentary Union’s annual maps of <a href="https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/library/publications/2020/women-in-politics-map-2020-en.pdf?la=en&vs=827">women in world politics</a> reveal these ministries continue to be allocated more often to men than women. </p>
<h2>Women inside the inner circle</h2>
<p>This is not the case in Labour’s new cabinet. Ardern’s inner circle (or top five if the photos are anything to go by) includes two women. The top ten positions in cabinet are shared equally between the sexes, with the portfolios alternating between women and men in order of seniority. </p>
<p>New Zealand’s first female foreign affairs minister is Nanaia Mahuta, former associate minister of trade and a senior member of Labour’s Māori caucus. Fourth ranked Megan Woods, who holds a number of big-budget portfolios, has been made associate minister of finance. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-equal-health-access-and-outcomes-should-be-a-priority-for-arderns-new-government-148421">Why equal health access and outcomes should be a priority for Ardern's new government</a>
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<p>There are four new women ministers (one of whom has come straight into cabinet from outside parliament), who have portfolios of their own but who are also associate ministers working with other senior ministers. This is an important strategy — if those senior ministers take their roles seriously, it will ensure these more junior women are likelier to succeed. </p>
<h2>The challenge of wider diversity</h2>
<p>One <a href="https://www.genderjustice.nz/why_this_matters">question</a> that remains for women’s organisations, however, is whether this new-look ministry will enhance the substantive representation of women and other minorities. </p>
<p>Women workers (as well as the young, Māori and Pasifika) have borne the brunt of job losses during the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning we need gender and diversity analyses applied to all <a href="https://www.newsroom.co.nz/ideasroom/what-the-budget-means-for-women">future economic recovery commitments</a>. </p>
<p>Similarly, our <a href="https://nzfvc.org.nz/family-violence-statistics">family and sexual violence</a> rates remain high, although the cross-portfolio policy responses continue to be led by talented ministers from both Labour and the Greens. </p>
<p>Whether this will be a feminist-focused cabinet remains to be seen. But the diversity of expertise, perspectives and lived experiences among the women around the cabinet table offers an opportunity to bring more diversity into policy deliberations and decisions. As it should — after all, it’s 2020.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/149273/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Curtin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Half of Jacinda Ardern’s ten most senior ministers are now women, lifting NZ’s global gender ranking from 50th to 26th.Jennifer Curtin, Professor of Politics and Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.