The Electoral Commission released the final results of the 14 October general election on 16 November 2023 and supplemented the results with more detailed analysis of voting behaviour in December 2023.

Kōreroreo - Discussion

54th Parliament – seats in the House of Representatives

The National Party secured 38% of party votes cast, giving it 48 seats in a 122 member House of Representatives. The New Zealand Labour Party won 34 seats, the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand 15 seats, ACT New Zealand 11 seats, New Zealand First Party 8 seats and Te Pāti Māori 6 seats.

There are 33 Members of Parliament of Māori descent, the most ever according to mainstream media reports (27%). The 2023 election delivered a House of Representatives that comprises 54 women and 68 men.

The seven Māori electorates returned the following members of Parliament:

Voter turnout

Voter turnout was 78.2%, down from 82.2% in 2020 (as a percentage of those enrolled).

Turnout of voters on the Māori roll was 68% compared with 69.1% in 2020. Turnout for voters of Māori descent across the general and Māori rolls was 70.3%, down from 72.9% in 2020.

Voting levels in the Māori electorates (as a percentage of those enrolled) ranged from 67.49% to 69.67%.

Voting levels across all electorates by age and broken down by Māori descent alongside all voters (expressed as a percentage of those enrolled to vote) was as follows:

Government formation

Coalition negotiations took place from the day after the election until 24 November 2023 when the National Party signed separate agreements with the New Zealand First Party and ACT New Zealand.

The agreements set out detailed policy programmes, decision-making processes as well as things like the number of ministerial positions each of the minor parties secured for their support of a coalition government led by the National Party (among these are three ministers inside Cabinet for each supporting party). See the agreements at: https://assets.nationbuilder.com/nationalparty/pages/18466/attachments/original/1700778592/National_ACT_Agreement.pdf, and at https://assets.nationbuilder.com/nationalparty/pages/18466/attachments/original/1700778597/NZFirst_Agreement_2.pdf.

Rt Hon Christopher Luxon is the Prime Minister. In a first for the MMP era of proportional representation, the coalition agreements include an agreement to share the role of Deputy Prime Minister. Rt Hon Winston Peters from New Zealand First will hold the role until 31 May 2025 and then Hon David Seymour from ACT New Zealand will hold the role for the remainder of the term.

Behind Winston Peters, and in due course David Seymour, Hon Shane Reti, Minister of Health and Minister of Pacific Peoples, is the highest ranked Māori Minister. Hon Tama Potaka is the Minister for Māori Development, Minister for Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti, Minister for Whānau Ora, Minister of Conservation and Associate Minister of Housing.

Coalition agreements and implications for Māori

The coalition agreements each contain policy areas with implications for Māori.

The most significant agreement is where the National Party and ACT New Zealand agree that the Government will introduce a Bill by which Parliament would redefine the meaning of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and then put that redefined set of principles before all voters in a referendum for approval. If approved, those Treaty principles would become law and be used as part of interpreting Te Tiriti as well as in assessing the lawfulness and Treaty compliance of administrative action. This is expressed in the agreement as follows: "Introduce a Treaty Principles Bill based on existing ACT policy and support it to a Select Committee as soon as practicable." That expression is presumably intended to reflect statements by the National Party that it has not agreed to progress such a Bill beyond the select committee stage.

Interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi under the rule of law gets particular mention in both agreements in a way that might conflict with the Government promoting legislation to redefine what the Treaty's principles mean (see above) where the parties promise that they will make pro-democracy decisions:

H. Pro-democracy – upholding the principles of liberal democracy, including equal citizenship, parliamentary sovereignty, the rule of law and property rights, especially with respect to interpreting the Treaty of Waitangi.

Policies of general application that will drive the coalition are described in broad terms. Then there are details specific to Māori such as abolishing the Māori Health Authority - Te Aka Whai Ora and repealing s 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989. Removing co-governance from the delivery of public services is promised in both agreements. In the agreement that the National Party has with New Zealand First this is addressed in a section entitled equal citizenship as follows:

Equal Citizenship

• The Coalition Government will defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law, with the same rights and obligations, and with the guarantee of the privileges and responsibilities of equal citizenship in New Zealand.

• The Coalition Government will work to improve outcomes for all New Zealanders, and will not advance policies that seek to ascribe different rights and responsibilities to New Zealanders on the basis of their race or ancestry.

• The Coalition Government will honour the undertakings made by the Crown through past Treaty of Waitangi settlements.

• The Coalition Government will reverse measures taken in recent years which have eroded the principle of equal citizenship, specifically we will:

Remove co-governance from the delivery of public services.

As a matter of urgency, issue a Cabinet Office circular to all central government organisations that it is the Government’s expectation that public services should be prioritised on the basis of need, not race.

Restore the right to local referendum on the establishment or ongoing use of Māori wards, including requiring a referendum on any wards established without referendum at the next Local Body elections.

Stop all work on He Puapua.

Confirm that the Coalition Government does not recognise the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as having any binding legal effect on New Zealand.

Amend section 58 of the Marine and Coastal Area Act to make clear Parliament’s original intent, in light of the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Whakatohea Kotahitanga Waka (Edwards) & Ors v Te Kahui and Whakatohea Maori Trust Board & Ors [2023] NZCA 504.

Amend the Waitangi Tribunal legislation to refocus the scope, purpose, and nature of its inquiries back to the original intent of that legislation.

Conduct a comprehensive review of all legislation (except when it is related to, or substantive to, existing full and final Treaty settlements) that includes “The Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi” and replace all such references with specific words relating to the relevance and application of the Treaty, or repeal the references.

The National Party and ACT New Zealand have agreed to require referenda for the establishment or ongoing use of Māori wards in local government representation arrangements.

There are other policies that will have implications for Māori language revitalisation. These include requiring the public service and Crown entity staff to communicate primarily in English (except for entities "specifically related to Māori") and ensure that public service departments have a primary name that is in English (unless the department is "specifically related to Māori").

Then there are measures targeting particular Māori communities such as the agreement between the National Party and ACT New Zealand to repeal the Canterbury Regional Council (Ngāi Tahu Representation) Act 2022.

More tangentially, other policies will have a disproportionate effect on Māori such as defunding reports used in sentencing in criminal justice, abolishing prisoner reduction targets and repeal of amendments to the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990.

Ngā kupu āpiti - Notes

For more detailed information see: https://electionresults.govt.nz/electionresults_2023/ and https://elections.nz/assets/2023-General-Election/Report-on-the-2023-General-Election.pdf

See earlier articles in this series: 2011 General Election and government formation; 2014 General Election and government formation; 2017 General Election and government formation; and 2020 General Election and government formation.

Author: Craig Linkhorn

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