The first National Party caucus retreat since the party’s devastating election loss last year is a stark reminder of just how tough the job ahead will be, writes political editor Jo Moir
It was a much slimmer gathering of MPs, freshly returned from their summer break, that gathered for National’s caucus retreat, where relaxed and rested leader Judith Collins confirmed the party is “working towards” standing candidates in the Māori seats in 2023.
Collins says National has been absent from the Māori electorate contest for too long.
She’s not wrong.
Two of her most prominent predecessors – Sir John Key and Sir Bill English – had no interest in running candidates in the seats.
National has not contested the electorates since 2002, and in the years since, its position has ranged from wanting the seats abolished to wanting them gone once Māori decided it was the right time.
Collins says the shift isn’t about actually winning the seats, but being present “on the marae” and fighting for the party vote.
But she couldn’t name one current MP that had any interest in putting their hand up in a Māori seat in 2023.
Deputy leader Shane Reti would be the most likely candidate, but he has his eyes fixed on winning back the Whāngarei seat he lost to Labour last year.
The only other politician currently in the caucus who identifies as Māori is Tauranga MP Simon Bridges.
Both Collins and her former deputy leader Gerry Brownlee have lived through the era of National distancing itself from the seats.
They defended the flip-flop appearance of the announcement by saying party positions change.
But it’s the timing of the change that many will see as cynical.
The National Party president Peter Goodfellow says the idea has been in the pipeline for about three years.
In that three years Te Paati Māori got knocked out of Parliament – and declared its alliance with National was mostly to blame.
Te Paati Māori is now back in Parliament after successfully selling a message that it wouldn’t make the same mistakes again – all but shutting the door to National and its ability to contract out its relationship with Māori and iwi.
That’s a problem for National, and if it wants to say it’s a party for all New Zealanders it has to find a way to connect with Māori from within its own ranks.
That’s a difficult task now it has one of the least diverse caucus’ in years and with prominent Māori National MPs like Hekia Parata and Nuk Korako long gone.
The National Party wanting to be part of that conversation is great news, but only if its motivations for doing so are genuinely about representation and not simply mining for votes.
National wanting to better represent all New Zealanders is a good thing – especially in an MMP environment that delivered a Labour-majority government.
But a starting point of wanting Māori votes, but not really being interested in representing Māori in a seat is deeply flawed.
New Zealand has a long way to go when it comes to addressing Māori inequality.
And when a number of MPs across the political divide fail to get through daily interviews without butchering simple Māori names and places there’s a sense that not a lot of effort is being put in even at the most basic level.
With Te Paati Māori having returned to Parliament and the Labour Māori caucus having grown significantly in size there’s an opportunity for real meaningful engagement and change across a number of kaupapa.
The National Party wanting to be part of that conversation is great news, but only if its motivations for doing so are genuinely about representation and not simply mining for votes.
