The Labour government then was in its second term, and the National Party was growing more desperate not to spend nine years in opposition. National had a disastrous political campaign in the 2002 election, only winning 27 seats. So to try to give it a new direction, it pinned its hopes on a newcomer to lead it into the election, Don Brash, the ex-Reserve Bank governor.
For many, that run-up to the 2005 election and its aftermath was horrible. National, through the infamous Orewa speech, aimed to set itself apart from Labour by targeting Maori and the Treaty of Waitangi. This was later followed by a deliberately populist and divisive range of advertisements, including the infamous ‘‘iwi’’ versus ‘‘Kiwi’’ series, implying that Maori do not count as real New Zealanders.
However, National at that time did not have a mortgage on race-based electioneering. Before the Orewa speech, Act New Zealand had also decided to target Maori issues. It was not as they later claimed, to gain Maori voters by providing answers to issues, but was to signal to those with anti-Maori feelings that their vote was valued by Act. While at the time one Act MP was worried that its tactics would only attract ‘‘the mean-spirited and fearful who want to demonise Maori’’, it did not stop them pursuing that tactic. In the end it was unsuccessful in that campaign as its vote plummeted from nine seats in 2002 to two seats in 2005. The truth is that it was outmanoeuvred in the race-baiting stakes by National, which missed out by a whisker of getting into government.
Now, as then, we have a Labour Government looking for a third term. The 2020 election was a disaster for National, dropping from 56 seats to a paltry 33. The modern National Party has also pinned its hopes on a political newcomer in Christopher Luxon who made his name, until 2019, as chief executive of Air New Zealand. In a repeat of 2005, Act New Zealand signalled another open season on Maori at its 2020 national conference. This was followed by a recent interview where Act leader David Seymour named his three top political issues: the Treaty of Waitangi, the Maori Health Authority and the Three Waters legislation, specifically having iwi representation on Waters Governance Boards. I had thought that the dominant issues for a neo-liberal conservative party would have been tax reform, less government regulation and greater individual freedoms. Obviously, Act has not been able to convince voters that it can deliver on these issues and so trying to create greater fear and resentment against Maori looks like a better seller.
In the end, Don Brash’s attack didn’t work in 2005, partly because its tactics cannibalised the vote on the right. With help from New Zealand First and left-wing parties, Labour was able to stay in power. However, I still remember what those times were like. There was constant negative press on Maori issues leading to a considerable number of non-Maori individuals feeling free to express bigoted opinions almost with impunity. The constant anti-Maori rhetoric was bruising. There was racism expressed in my Treaty of Waitangi classes that I have not experienced before or since. It got to the point where many Maori, myself included, weighed up moving overseas to get away from it. Thankfully, it was just a blip in New Zealand’s journey to greater equality and equity.
Because of MMP, major parties usually need to have smaller parties to ally with in order to govern. It can be harder for National as the various smaller conservative and religion-based parties cause some of the right-wing vote to be wasted as they don’t reach the 5% threshold to get into Parliament. My prediction is that, this time around, the National Party leader Christopher Luxon will try to keep his hands relatively clean and leave it to Act to do the real dirty work. Luxon may play the race card if he feels Act is getting too big a share of the vote, but he needs a coalition partner that can pick up the decreasing but still considerable anti-Maori vote.
One thing that has changed since 2005 is that news outlets now have more journalists and editors who understand Maori issues and racism. They are far more able to critique and explain background and context, something that was often missing in the past. My hope is that they are also more adept at holding politicians to task when they stray down populist and racist paths.
— Anaru Eketone is an associate professor in social and community work at the University of Otago.
