KEY POINTS:
Maori living overseas are less interested in voting than other expatriates, says a researcher.
Only 612 of the 136,000 party votes cast in the Maori electorate in 2005 came from outside New Zealand.
But Paul Hamer, senior associate of Victoria University's Institute of Policy Studies, said 3800 of the 43,000 expatriates who had registered that year said they were of Maori descent.
Some may have voted under the general electorates but Mr Hamer said 2006 research on 1200 Maori living in Australia showed Maori who voted tended to be older, more likely to speak Maori and emphasise their Maori identity.
They were also more inclined to return to New Zealand to live than other respondents so one would assume they were more likely to vote on the Maori roll, Mr Hamer said.
"Maori voters have been switching to the Maori roll, I don't see there to be any reason for that to be different overseas.
"If you're Maori and you're voting from overseas, you're probably doing it to show your commitment to New Zealand."
Figures were not available for how many expatriate Maori were registered on the Maori roll.
The 2006 Australian Census said 93,000 Maori were living in Australia, more than in any other country besides New Zealand. But Mr Hamer said there could be more, as 14 per cent of Maori respondents in the 2006 study put their nationality down as New Zealander rather than Maori.
More than 110,000 Maori are thought to be living across the Tasman. "There is potential for the votes of overseas Maori to have an increasing influence on the results in the Maori seats, if expatriates' motivation can be captured."
However the total overseas vote in the Maori seats rose 196 per cent from 1996 to 2005, as opposed to 116 per cent in all electorates. About 23 per cent of Maori became Australian citizens after moving from New Zealand and are eligible to vote.
"This may stem from political apathy as well as an unwillingness to undermine symbolic connections to New Zealand.
"The comparatively low rate of take-up of Australian citizenship by Maori leaves them practically the most disenfranchised ethnic immigrant group in Australia."
New Zealanders living overseas must return to the country during the three years preceding an election to still be eligible to vote.
