In brief

• Leftwing parties accuse rightwing parties of race-baiting because the right is campaigning against co-governance.

• Without the race based co-governance, which the left is pushing, where does the conversation have anything to do with race?

• The MSM seems willing to spread the left’s smears of race-baiting, without readily acknowledging co-governance is a highly contentious issue. 

How does the issue of race factor into this election? 

The left accuses anyone of race-baiting who questions co-governance. Most opponents to co-governance question co-governance policies because they view them as racist.  

Mainstream media play along by uncritically amplifying the left’s claims. They fail to ask for examples of actual racism, as opposed to resistance to co-governance 

Here’s some examples of how this has played out over the course of the campaign. 

Playing the race card

Labour leader Chris Hipkins accused ACT and NZ First of playing the “race card” while debating National’s Chris Luxon, because, essentially, those parties’ bottom line is ending co-governance. 

Soon afterwards, a group of Māori politicians and academics released “A call to condemn racism” aimed solely at the parties on the right. The call says “Racism, in any form, should have no place in our elections.” 

Signatories include Māori academic Margaret Mutu, who has previously called for restricting immigration of white people to New Zealand. 

The call’s first signatory, former Te Pāti Māori president Dame Naida Glavish, says she is appalled by the “open racism” coming from ACT, but couldn’t name a particular policy that was racist. Similarly, Green MP Chloe Swarbrick couldn’t give any examples of alleged racism by ACT when challenged live on the AM show by ACT leader David Seymour.

Te Pāti Māori candidate Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke accused ACT and NZ First of using “political fear” on “our young people who are brown” during the TVNZ Young Voters debate.

Race-baiting is in the eye of the beholder

ACT has released a statement saying “Te Pāti Māori and their allies have accused ACT of ‘race-baiting’ over and over again, but can never provide an example.”  

Seymour says “New Zealanders are sick and tired of being accused of racism for wanting equal rights for all New Zealanders.”

After being questioned about his claims, Tamihere referred to journalist Sean Plunket as “White folk like you” and stated that “It’s only a matter of time. 25% of all babies under five in Aotearoa are of Māori descent.” Tamihere made similar statements previously where he added “they’ll be under our management, not yours”. 

Commentator Damian Grant summed up the frustration felt by many about the MSM’s angle on racism in relation to co-governance in his comments aimed at columnist Simon Wilson: 

“The people who are stirring up racial hatred are the people who go there and infer from somebody’s political views, malice. That, sir, is wrong and you shouldn’t do it. You’re a member of the fourth estate and you should do better.”