Toitū te Tiriti activists don't represent Māoridom, they include political figures, marginalized groups like those who've suffered job cuts due to government policy, journalists who've lost all credibility and funding, and legal experts — Kings Counsel's that literally dissect, and debate legislation and get paid big bucks to do it.

Other groups in the hīkoi are patched-gang members, kids who should be in school, beneficiaries facing potential sanctions forced to look for work and those standing in solidarity or otherwise brainwashed into believing Māoridom and Te Tiriti is under attack. The demonstrations you see are more about preserving cash flow and privileges rather than defending "Te Tiriti o Waitangi".

There's no denying now that Te Pāti Māori completely fails to rally the Māori ethnic population behind them in free and fair elections.

I have the data to prove it, and this article will outline an argument for abolishing Māori electorates.

The electorates were initially intended as a TEMPORARY measure for five years but were extended in 1872 and made permanent in 1876. Despite numerous attempts to dismantle Māori electorates, they continue to be a distinct part of the New Zealand political landscape.

In 2024, Māori representation is now mainstream and widespread across all political parties registered in New Zealand, eliminating the need for the nation to retain the seven privileged and special Māori electorate seats.

To maintain a fair and democratic society, and for the sake of protecting our democracy and bridging the divide between Māori and the general public, I implore our elected officials to abolish these Special and Privileged Māori seats immediately!

Matt's perspective is correct. Most iwi have entered into negotiations and fully settled with the Crown, there are only a few remaining. These settlement agreements achieved official recognition and government apologies for the historical injustices inflicted upon respective iwi. The New Zealand government has indeed made amends or tried to by providing redress, compensation, and restitution for these past wrongs — albeit nothing will ever suffice.

It is not only my view that Te Pāti Māori have become a threat to our democracy and that they do not represent, speak for, or act on behalf of Māori; this is the actual view of Māori themselves.

At the bottom of this article, you will find the latest national population statistics, including the most recent Māori electoral data from Stats NZ and the Electoral Commission.

Many New Zealanders, myself included, believe TPM will do anything to undermine our democracy and the parliamentary process. Their recent protest and haka that shut down Parliament demonstrated they do not respect New Zealand's democratic institutions, nor do they recognize the authority of the Speaker, our Sovereign & Head of State, or our House of Representatives.

SPEAKER: At the end of the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke misused the voting procedure to stage a protest. Other members joined in. The result is that the vote was not declared and the bill has not yet been read a first time. I'll proceed to that shortly.

Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee immediately denounced Hana's conduct and haka protest. Hana is the youngest MP ever elected to New Zealand's Parliament.

Māori Religious Leader Brian Tamaki Posted on 𝕏 to His 16,000+ Followers, Saying: "Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke – this girl is dangerous. She pulled the gun sign in Parliament. Her ideologies are incredibly warped and she has no life experience or understanding of what will help Māori to move forward to healing, happiness and wholeness."

Last week, I wrote about how the Te Pāti Māori militant wing "Toitu te Tiriti" shares several thematic similarities to Hamas (a terrorist resistance group) and how they both seek to solicit and engage international attention, support and sympathy by radical and extreme action highlighting issues of indigenous rights, sovereignty, and the fight against cultural and political subjugation. I was right.

Te Pāti Māori latest parliamentary protest went viral, with videos shared across all social media and video-sharing platforms, reported on and republished widely by the world's media and influencers, and has now been viewed hundreds of millions of times globally.

The videos have indeed garnered sympathy and support for Te Pāti Māori from minority groups worldwide, many of which have planned their own Hīkoi in solidarity with the radical Toitū te Tiriti protesters.

A significant and alarming point to raise is that just before the haka protest in Parliament last week, and even before the Speaker had suspended the entire House of Representatives momentarily, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi delivered a speech in which he once again demanded the establishment of an independent Māori Parliament.

While it's easy to assume Te Pāti Māori and their staunch supporters speak for and represent all of Māoridom, the reality is quite different, they do not voice the collective will of 'Te Ao Māori', and the party lacks the mandate to truly represent Māori.

Returning to the topic of the exclusive 'Māori electorates', I believe no radicalised Te Pāti Māori candidate would have secured a seat in Parliament during the recent general election if not for these designated Māori seats and breaching the Electoral Act. Furthermore, Te Pāti Māori chose not to field any candidates in the general electorates, focusing solely on the Māori constituencies.

Despite the benefit of having exclusive special and privileged Māori electorates at their disposal, Te Pāti Māori fell short of achieving the 5% threshold required for proportional representation in Parliament through party votes, obtaining just 3% of the national party vote. This outcome is noteworthy, given that 7.9% of electors or 289,826 individuals, were registered on the Māori roll.

Officially, Te Pāti Māori secured a total of 87,844 votes of the nationwide "party vote", which accounted for 3.08% of the total. They triumphed in 6 out of the 7 dedicated Māori electorates, which were all exclusively contested by themselves and their coalition partners, with voting rights reserved only for those privileged enough to be registered on the Māori electoral roll.

If Te Pāti Māori does not go on a comprehensive national tour to connect with various hapu and iwi, their claim to represent and speak for the entirety of 'Māoridom' is weakened. The absence of engagement with iwi Māori indicates that their policies and advocacy does NOT have the widespread backing among Māori as they and their supporters claim.

The most recent electoral data, updated as of October 1, 2024, reveals that there are 563,347 Māori electors in New Zealand. This number has been updated from the initial release by Stats NZ on April 1, 2024, which recorded 520,569 eligible Māori electors, representing 15.4% of all registered electors in New Zealand.

For the purposes of this article, I use the data from April 1, 2024. On that date, 273,521 Māori electors were registered on the General Roll, making up 7.5% of New Zealand's total eligible electorate, while 289,826 Māori electors were registered on the Māori Roll, constituting 7.9% of the total electorate.

Māori have special privileges, with 7 dedicated electorates across the country specifically and exclusively for them. If you are not on the Māori roll, you cannot vote for any candidates in these 7 electorates, effectively creating a two-tier citizenship system. It is these special Māori seats that are currently empowering Te Pāti Māori in Parliament, enabling them, as some argue, to undermine our democracy from within. TPM has been very vocal in advocating for their own Parliament, separate from New Zealand's existing parliamentary system.

Here is a breakdown of the 7 Māori electorates (special Māori seats) and how many Māori electors in each. Very clearly you can see Māori are only a minority and are GREATLY outnumbered.