Voter apathy worries Maori Party

By JON STOKES

Maori voter apathy remains a key concern for the Maori Party leadership despite a resounding victory in the Te Tai Hauauru byelection.

Although the party pulled 6869 of the 7454 votes, feedback from its 800 party volunteers, who door-knocked Maori voters, highlighted that many were unaware of the byelection or had no intention of voting.

Party president Whatarangi Winiata said there was concern that many Maori, despite the high profile of incumbent MP Tariana Turia, were not bothering to vote.

Mr Winiata blamed Maori apathy, driven in part by frustration with a political process he believed had not served their needs.

"The result is a reflection of the lack of Maori interest in a political process ... where parties have been Pakeha parties dominated by Pakeha concerns."

He said the Maori Party had a lot of work to do to get Maori voting.

Maori Party supporter Sheryl Smith was one of the 800 volunteers who canvassed Maori to remind them to vote and to offer transport to polling booths.

She said around 50 per cent of those door-knocked in Castlecliff, a Wanganui suburb with a high Maori population, were unaware of the byelection or unlikely to have voted.

Responses during her canvass of the area included: "Is it [the byelection] today?"; "Who should I vote for?"; "I didn't know it was on"; and "is it compulsory?".

She said the response was disappointing in a suburb in which Ms Turia, the Maori Party leader, lived.

"It just shows it's hard to get your own people to vote."

The party's Taranaki co-ordinator, Peter Moeahu, said the response was similar in his region.

"There was strong support for the party, but it may not have been reflected in the polls."

He said about 30 per cent of Maori did not know the byelection was on, with a number not at home when supporters called.

There was also concern from campaign manager Matt McCarten over the high number of Maori whose electoral roll information was wrong.

He estimated that 6000 of the 26,000 potential voters had moved and could not be contacted since the last election.

But Mr Winiata said that despite some concerns he was pleased with the more than 7000 voters who did turn out for the byelection.

"It was higher than expected and shows a high response to the call to support Tariana."