Thanks For Coming Back! Your Free Allocated Content Will Shortly Be Coming to an End. We would like to give you a 14-Day Free Trial with No Credit Card Required.

Create a profile and unlock personalized features. Receive your personalised daily report. Login to your Personal FEED, Follow and Join Channel VIP Rooms. Comment and be part of our global community. Get access to all member content with No Censorship, Freedom of Speech, No tracking, No algorithms and NO A.I. Plus much more. Click the START button, complete the form below and verify your email address.

This offer expires in
00 00 00

Start your free trial now!
No Payment or Credit Card Required

Already a premium member? Log in here

Skip the Trial - Join Us Now

Join the Worldwide Community That Believe in the Protection of Freedom of Speech

Your Free Allocated Content Has come to an End. However, We would like to give you a 14-Day Free Trial with No Credit Card Required.

Create a profile and unlock personalized features. Receive your personalised daily report. Login to your Personal FEED, Follow and Join Channel VIP Rooms. Comment and be part of our global community. Get access to all member content with No Censorship, Freedom of Speech, No tracking, No algorithms and NO A.I. Plus much more. Click the START button, complete the form below and verify your email address.

This offer expires in
00 00 00

Start your free trial now!
No Payment or Credit Card Required

Already a premium member? Log in here

Skip the Trial - Join Us Now

Join the Worldwide Community That Believe in the Protection of Freedom of Speech

You need to log in to proceed.

Login

Read

Is the Treaty debate bigger than statistics suggest?

  • elocal magazine By elocal magazine

Matthew Hooton’s recent article for The NZ Herald, “Treaty Principles Bill submissions received, but there are issues leaving race debate in dust,” delivers accurate polling data but we disagree with his conclusion.

He suggests that the Treaty debate is only a distant concern for voters, but his interpretation may be ignoring the broader relevance of these issues to the political and social landscape.

More than just the Treaty Principles Bill

Hooton’s argument hinges on data from a recent Curia poll, which groups “Māori/Treaty” issues together. While the Treaty Principles Bill might not rank as a top concern, this category encompasses much more than the bill itself. Governance, health, and social division are all intertwined with Māori/Treaty issues, making their impact far-reaching, even if indirectly.

Treating the Treaty Principles Bill as an isolated issue fails to recognise its role as part of a larger puzzle affecting New Zealanders.

The growing importance of Māori/Treaty issues

It’s worth noting that public concern for Māori/Treaty issues has surged. Previously outside the top 10, these concerns now rank fourth among voters’ priorities in the most recent survey—above Law & Order, Education, and the Environment. This shift reflects a growing awareness and engagement, even if sometimes it is not obvious when looking at the data.

Curia’s additional data provides further insight. While rankings force voters to prioritise only their top three concerns, a broader rating system paints a different picture.

When respondents scored issues on a scale of 1 to 10, eight issues received scores of 8/10 or higher. This suggests voters are grappling with a wide range of serious issues, and the Treaty debate is undoubtedly intertwined within this landscape.

Flaws in ranking systems

Relative rankings, like those used by Curia and IPSOS, often fail to capture the full picture. By focusing on only the top three concerns, these polls suppress visibility of “mid-tier” issues that might still hold significant weight for voters.

For example, concerns about inflation, healthcare, and the Treaty may all rank high in voters’ minds but not make the cut in a strict ranking system.

A deeper look at public engagement

Beyond polling data, the scale of public involvement in the Treaty debate is notable. The unprecedented 300,000 plus submissions on the Treaty Principles Bill— at least three times the previous record for any legislation in New Zealand—show that this is an important issue to Kiwis.

Te Pāti Māori’s large-scale hikoi and widespread media coverage reinforce this. While Hooton’s point about fringe voices making noise has merit, the unprecedented public engagement suggests deeper, widespread concern about the bill’s broader implications.


Centrist Ltd.

New Zealand
Current Affairs
Avatar

View elocal magazine’s premium content now…

Get a free 14 day trial (no credit card required)

Already a premium member? Log in here

Skip the Trial - Join Us Now