Independent Maori Party Could Hold Balance In Dominion’s Politics
The Government grip on the four Maori parliamentary constituencies was weakening and Ratanaism, with which he said the Labour Party had effected a political alliance, was disintegrating. This opinion was expressed at Wellington by the Rev. O. T. Haddon, who until recently was organising secretary of the Maori Advisory Council of the New Zealand Labour Party. Mr Haddon has been touring the Maori electorates with the object of organising an independent political group.
“Very few people seem to realise it, although I believe some Government members are uneasily aware of the fact that Ratanaism, as a religious cult, is collapsing,” he added.
“The process may develop very swiftly and Ratanaism will join the ghosts of Ringatu, Hau Hauism and Tohungism. The political effects will certainly be considerable and I believe that they are already appearing.
“When the Labour Party formed an alliance with a. religious cult, many people regarded it as a clever political expedient. It has certainly yielded some dividends to the Government and it gave the Labour Party its only Parliamentary mandate at the last general election. “Yet time will almost certainly prove its folly, from the viewpoint of worthwhile political results and the security of a union without par- ■ allel elsewhere in the British Commonwealth of Nations and possibly in the world.” Mr Haddon said that his tour was for the purpose of discovering a means of more effective Parliamentary representation of Maoris without the benefit or otherwise of Ra"tanaism,. or anything of the kind.
“We must have members who will fight in Parliament for a decisive policy which truly expresses Maori aspirations. I think the response is promising. Much can happen between now and the election but there may be a strong movement towards an independent Maori party which could hold the balance of power,” he concluded.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/BPB19480402.2.23
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Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 34, 2 April 1948, Page 5
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310Independent Maori Party Could Hold Balance In Dominion’s Politics Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 34, 2 April 1948, Page 5
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