Migrant party faces an uphill struggle

The March byelection was announced following the resignation of Pansy Wong. Photo / Mark Mitchell

It has taken only a relatively short time for the emergence of a new political party that will court the vote of Chinese migrants. The catalyst for the creation of the fledgling New Citizen Party is the March 5 byelection in Botany, where migrants make up more than half the voters. The party's founders have forsaken the option of promoting the Chinese migrant voice through parliamentary representation in one of the mainstream parties.

The poll has been called because a Chinese migrant who took that course, former Cabinet minister and National Party MP Pansy Wong, has resigned. Another migrant, Raymond Huo, is a Labour Party MP.

That is the more traditional alternative for minorities. Maori, for example, were for a long time content to be aligned with Labour. About 30 years ago, Matiu Rata's attempt to get a Maori party, Mana Motuhake, into Parliament failed. It took grievances over one issue, the foreshore and seabed, to give birth to the Maori Party.

Success for the New Citizen Party may depend on its identifying a similar discontent among migrants, most of whom seem happy to support National. Many may also feel uncomfortable about the new party's business orientation and the involvement of Beijing-based Jack Chen.

Its founders talk of accommodations with Maori tribes for party votes at the next general election, and gaining support outside the Asian community. First, however, they face an uphill battle to establish credibility by attracting the migrant vote in Botany.