Labour and Te Pati Maori

Politik reports:

But Labour may have got the jump on ACT with its leader announcing that it is highly unlikely to go into coalition with the Greens or Te Paati Maori, but instead will simply do confidence and supply agreements with the two parties.

This will actually make any Government less stable, and actually make Te Pāti Māori more powerful.

In a coalition, you are all around the cabinet table. It involves compromise and negotiation and good faith. It is hard work, but it means that you work together.

If Labour refuses to allow Te Pati Maori into Cabinet (and of the 100+ polls since the election, none show they can govern without them) then Te Pati Maori has no vested interest in compromise (not something they excel at anyway). It means that Labour will have to go to TPM on every single law, every policy, every Budget and plead with them to support it.

The bottom line is it doesn’t matter whether TPM is in Cabinet, outside Cabinet or not in the Executive at all. The maths remains the same – Labour can’t govern without them.

A vote for Labour will mean a Government that is dependent on the whims of Te Pati Maori.