RACE TO THE BEEHIVE

Richard Harman’s article about the alignment of the National and Maori parties (“Race Is On”, July 8) confirms that the Iwi Leadership Forum can be seen as a branch of the National Party. It quotes Prime Minister Bill English as saying, “A lot of Maori aspirations are essentially conservative.”

The party and the forum have much in common, in particular both favouring the control of assets, resources and political influence by an elite. Harman concludes that “ultimately English will have to test the line between partnership and democracy” in his Government’s relationship with Maori leaders.

National’s rejection of recommended improvements to MMP and its failure to consider other electoral and parliamentary reforms show that the only kind of democracy it is interested in is one that keeps it in power. Does the Iwi Leadership Forum ever have the condition of New Zealand’s democracy on its agenda? Philip Temple (Dunedin) “Race is on” left me concerned about what was not said rather than said. The article gave the impression that the relationship between the National and Maori parties was of all friends together.

There was no mention that before the 2005 election, National said the Maori seats in Parliament were no longer justified and, should National be elected to govern, they would go. John Key made the same promise in 2008.

As we now know, National needs the support of the Maori Party MPs to govern. Suddenly, Maori seats in Parliament are justified.

The article also points out that National MPs have to bite their tongue when discussions on either the Resource Management Act or water ownership come into the public arena because the party has given Maori disproportionate rights in both areas.

That doesn’t sound very pally to me. It sounds more like a political party elected to do all it can for the good of New Zealand instead doing all it can to hang on to those ministerial salaries. Reg Fowles (Waikanae)