A/HRC/18/35/Add.4 B. Opportunity for real partnership 1. Maori participation in political decision-making 11. The Treaty of Waitangi has been interpreted as establishing a relationship “akin to partnership” between the Government and the Maori;1 the preamble of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples similarly recognizes that “treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements, and the relationship they represent, are the basis for a strengthened partnership between indigenous peoples and States”. (a) Participation at the national level 12. Many see the partnership framework contemplated under the Treaty of Waitangi as having been advanced, to varying degrees over time, by Maori participation in the national Parliament, through various electoral arrangements, though mostly by setting aside separate seats in the Parliament for Maori. Most recently, the Electoral Act of 1993 makes the number of reserved seats proportional to the number of Maori registered on the Maori electoral roll. After the 2008 election, 16 per cent (20 members) of the 122 members of Parliament identified themselves as Maori, a number proportional to the percentage of Maori in the New Zealand population. The Maori Party, created in 2004, holds 5 of the 20 seats held by Maori in Parliament. 13. This guaranteed representation has provided Maori people with a significant opportunity to influence decision-making at the national level, and it is an important step towards advancing the partnership relationship between Maori and the State. This system was commended by the former Special Rapporteur in his 2006 report, when he noted that it “has broadened democracy in New Zealand and should continue governing the electoral process in the country to ensure a solid Maori voice in Parliament and guarantee democratic pluralism” (E/CN.4/2006/78/Add.3, para. 17). 14. Yet, in practice, the New Zealand Parliament is still ruled by majority. Because Maori do not constitute a majority in the country, Maori decision-making at the national level is consistently vulnerable to overriding majority interests. Also, while the provisions of the Electoral Act of 1993 regulating the general electorate seats are entrenched, those provisions of the act concerning Maori seats are not entrenched, meaning that they may be revoked by a simple act of Parliament. (b) Participation at the local level 15. While Maori representation at the national level provides an important opportunity for Maori people to participate in decision-making, in what may be seen as the type of partnership contemplated by the Treaty of Waitangi, for the most part, this same opportunity does not exist at the local government level. The number of Maori elected to local government is not proportional to their percentage of the population, with less than 5 per cent of local government positions held by Maori prior to the 2007 local government elections.2 16. The Local Government Act of 2002 (No. 84) allows for local governments to adopt measures to facilitate participation of Maori, “in order to recognise and respect the Crown’s responsibility to take appropriate account of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and to 1 2 6 New Zealand Maori Council v. Attorney General [1987] NZLR 641. New Zealand, Te Puni Kokiri (Ministry of Maori Development), Whaiwāhi ki ngā Poti ā-rohe: Participate in Local Elections, (July 2007), p. 1. Available from www.tpk.govt.nz/en/in-print/ourpublications/fact-sheets/localelections/download/tpk-localelections-2007-en.pdf.