Maori Party Membership
May 29th, 2005 at 10:51 am by David FarrarThe Maori Party is claiming to have the largest membership of any party with 17,000 members.
Baloney would be my response 
I would be interested in how much, if anything, is the minimum membership fee for the Maori Party. Or can people join for free as a show of support?
As the article says, National has had a surge in membership in the last 18 months. The interesting thing is that this has happened, despite increasing the minimum fee from $1/family to $5/person.
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May 29th, 2005 at 11:33 am
According to the website and membership form, the fee for joining is $2. No mention of “joining for free to show support”, but I suppose it’s possible that it happens anyway. Wouldn’t that get them in trouble with the electoral authorities, though, seeing as membership statistics are important for funding?
Vote:May 29th, 2005 at 5:08 pm
they are probably still using the patented McCarten counting technique which involves counting anyone who ever expressed any interest whatsoever in a mailing list, etc.
although the fact that they have (nearly) no policy does mean that many people may find that there is nothing to disagree with. I think there is certainly a groundswell amongst many Maori to not only support the Maori Party but also join it. I heard via RedMail that JT’s doorknockers are finding life v hard in Tamaki Makaurau…
Vote:May 29th, 2005 at 5:43 pm
also david these figures are more indicative of the degree of support the maori party has/will receive than anything else, eh?..
and you are responsible for bringing us bloody tau henare again..i thought we were done and dusted with him..that’s going to backfire on you, and will evoke all sorts of nasty memories of that late and not so great previous coalition with nz first..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Vote:May 29th, 2005 at 10:57 pm
It’s the real deal, mate. I witnessed it for myself.
My father is the Opotiki branch chairman and when I visited him in January people were stopping him on the street to demand membership forms! It was unreal.
What other party has people actually actively seeking to be members? There is huge flaxroots support for the movement. They have a massive number of people door-knocking right now. Labour is toast in the Maori seats. And yes, membership is only $2.
Vote:May 29th, 2005 at 11:19 pm
Tim – I agree the Maori Party has much support. In fact some months ago I blogged that I thought they would win 5 – 7 of the Maori seats because of their on the ground activists.
I just wanted to clarify what it takes to be a member, and note that 17,000 is someway off being the largest party, as far as I know.
Vote:May 30th, 2005 at 1:29 am
I’m not a member and I haven’t seen a membership form – but I don’t think their oath of fidelity would be too onerous. I’m not sure what their rules on dual/multiple membership of other parties is either, but it would be pretty open I should think. They aren’t “uptight” about these things like some are.
I’m predicting the Maori party will take all 7 seats with Tainui being the closest. I have been somewhat amazed by the general Pakeha and Pakeha political commentators underestimation of the Maori party. The racial divide has so many levels.
I looked at the NZ Nazi website and found the Maori party get quite a good blurb from them considering (according to their own citizenship policy Maori can’t be citizens!?!) But I don’t expect the Crown to prosecute any of them for publicly propogating those sorts of statements. I’ll be checking from time to time to make sure they don’t step over the mark and provide me with some ammunition.
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