PM should know Treaty articles

Willie Jackson knew the answers immediately. That’s because those articles are extremely important to some Ma¯ ori voters.

Ma¯ ori voters won’t abandon Labour because the PM made a boo-boo, but it won’t help.

Labour should be in rebuild mode with Ma¯ ori voters big time, but it seems surprisingly laissez faire.

Remember, this is the party responsible for the Foreshore and Seabed legislation.

After years of punishment, Labour finally won all seven Ma¯ ori seats back at the last election. Ma¯ ori voters are clearly expecting a bit of love in return, but Labour hasn’t really done much until this week.

There was very little in last year’s Budget, which earned a bit of a rebuke at Ra¯ tana’s 100-year celebrations in November.

Finally this week the Government threw $100 million at developing Ma¯ ori land. But it feels somewhat cynical, with the announcement just days out from Waitangi Day.

You’ve got to give it to Ma¯ ori voters. They don’t mind letting the Government know if they’re annoyed.

That’s why the Ma¯ ori seats have flipped from Labour to New Zealand First, back to Labour, to the Ma¯ ori Party and eventually back to Labour again.

It’s also why one leader up in Waitangi didn’t mind using the Dawn Service to warn the PM, saying “all I ask is by this time next year that we all know the articles of the Treaty of Waitangi”.

Heather du Plessis-Allan is on Newstalk ZB in Wellington, weekdays, 9am-12pm.

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