General Debate 02 September 2026

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General Debate

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Yvette

A possibly unconstitutional move – election engineering – to introduce constitutional change?

The Māori electorate allocation remains locked at 7 until the 2032 review cycle, and contesting electorates without a party list causes those won seats to be deducted from the standard 120-seat total rather than creating overhang seats.

• Electorate boundary reviews mean that the current boundaries—and the 7 Māori electorates—are locked for the 2026 and 2029 general elections. The next formal boundary redistribution conducted by the Representation Commission will not take effect until 2032.

• If a party submits a party list and wins more electorate seats than its overall party vote percentage entitles it to, it keeps all won electorate seats. The extra seats become overhang seats.

• If a party chooses not to submit a Party List (or when independent candidates win seats), the candidates still keep every electorate seat won. However, under Section 191 of the Electoral Act 1993, those electorate seats are subtracted directly from the standard 120-seat pool before proportional allocation takes place for the remaining parties.
Because a party without a list cannot be allocated list seats, its party vote entitlement is effectively zero for list calculation purposes. Deducting their electorate seats from 120 shrinks the remaining pool of seats allocated to list-contesting parties rather than inflating Parliament with overhang seats.

How might New Zealand voters consider the Maori Party as it presents itself? –
Does the Maori Party offer any great attributes to balance the election engineering it is indulging in with the sole declared aim of removing the present National-led coalition?

No, they offer this –

Te Pāti Māori has launched a major “Te Tiriti Entrenchment Policy” designed to legally bind the Crown to its Treaty obligations and drive structural, long-term constitutional change. The policy acts as a direct counter-strategy to the Coalition Government’s efforts to review and strip out specific Treaty clauses from various pieces of New Zealand legislation.

Core Policy Points Relating to Te Tiriti
• Constitutional Entrenchment: Legally embedding Te Tiriti o Waitangi into New Zealand’s lawmaking framework so that Crown obligations become permanent and legally enforceable.

• Binding Tribunal Recommendations: Amending the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 and the Constitution Act to make findings and recommendations of the Waitangi Tribunal fully binding on the Crown. This would include explicit implementation timeframes and judicial enforcement mechanisms.

• Shifting the Legal Burden: Reversing the current dynamic where Māori must proactively challenge the Crown in court over breaches. Under this policy, Crown actions would be preemptively halted if found to violate Te Tiriti, requiring the government to prove compliance in the High Court before proceeding.

• 2040 Transformation Target: Setting a strict target year of 2040—the bicentenary of the signing of Te Tiriti—to finalize a Māori-led, Treaty-centered constitutional model for the country

… drive structural, long-term constitutional change.
Isn’t that what they accused David Seymour and ACT of?

And the Maori Party are gerrymandering MMP to do it?
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September 2, 2026 8:05am
artemisia

Should Tamatha Paul apologise for a specific, targeted and false attack in the House?

Green MP Tamatha Paul not apologising for misleading speech on property

“Let’s talk about the National and New Zealand First MPs” Paul continued, “Including Grant McCallum, who bought a house in Wellington, so they can pay themselves the accommodation allowance while taxpayers pay their mortgage off.”

Except he didn’t. Not sure ‘misleading’ is the correct description. She lied.

So should Tamatha Paul apologise? Even though the House record was corrected. Not corrected by Tamatha Paul but corrected by Grant McCallum. Something is wrong with this picture.

https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/politics/green-mp-tamatha-paul-not-apologising-for-misleading-speech-on-property/
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September 2, 2026 8:05am
- Flossie
  
  According to Green leaders things can be said in the heat of exchanges, but it’s okay. We should just forget what’s been said and move on.
  Put the boot on the other foot and see how much forgiving and forgetting they do!
  
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  September 2, 2026 8:16am
  - Gravelroad
    
    The Green Party is a dishonest joke.
    Why people keep supporting it beats me.
    It achieves nothing.
    
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    September 2, 2026 8:24am
artemisia

Union Workers First Rudd Hughes says of Woolworths proposal to shift some jobs to Australia “There should be a reasonable expectation that a large company like Woolworths should reinvest into the society where its customer base is generating those profits – but Woolworths seem to care only about their bottom lines.”

Umm, Woolworths has a couple of hundred NZ supermarkets and about 20,000 staff. Sounds like an investment in New Zealand.

Business make business decisions. The union says many of the impacted team work from home – other enterprises here and global, have made business decisions about that. Usually, back to the office please. Maybe that’s a factor. Also this union has been critical of Woolworths. Would it be all that surprising if Woolies decided to fold a small tent and take it elsewhere? Some not unexpected consequences.

https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/business/woolworths-proposes-cutting-about-130-customer-support-roles-in-new-zealand/
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September 2, 2026 8:15am

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