Māori politics () is the politics of the Māori people, who were the original inhabitants of New Zealand and who are now the country's largest minority.
Before the arrival of Pākehā (Europeans) in New Zealand, Māori society was based largely around tribal units, and chiefs (') provided political leadership. With the British settlers of the 19th century came a new British-style government. From the outset, Māori sought representation within this government, seeing it as a vital way to promote their people's rights and improve living standards.
Modern Māori politics can be seen as a subset of New Zealand politics in general, but has a number of distinguishing features, including advocacy for indigenous rights and Māori sovereignty. Many Māori politicians are members of major, historically European-dominated political parties, while others have formed separate Māori parties. For example, Te Pāti Māori, holding six of seven Māori electorates, is one such party. The state has devolved power to Māori entities in an arrangement described as co-governance.
Pre-colonial Māori governance
Before the arrival of Pākehā (European settlers) in New Zealand, Māori society was based largely around communal units. A common misconception is that pre-colonial Māori governance was structured into the "rigid and static structural models" (p. 19) proposed by early ethnologists, such as Elsdon Best (1934):
Twentieth century research "modified this model of tribal organisation, emphasising the role of the hapū ... as the largest effective corporate group which defended a territory or worked together in peaceful enterprises"
Māori and colonial politics
thumb|left|Māori wood carving, ceremonial war canoe, Waitangi
A constitution for New Zealand between Māori and the British Crown was signed in 1835 with the drawing up and agreement of the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand. The Māori-language document is often referred to as He Whakaputanga. The full Māori name is He Wakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni. This was a way for Māori tribal groups to assert their authority to the wider world and strengthen an alliance with Great Britain. He Whakaputenga partly came out of lawlessness amongst British subjects in New Zealand and on the British side was a response to French colonial competition.
In 1840 The Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi), signed between various Māori iwi and the British Crown, had the practical effect of transferring sovereignty to the United Kingdom. The Māori language version had a different intent in which the Māori who signed agreed share power and authority with the British Governor whilst retaining authority over their people and territories.
As settlement increased, the colonists became increasingly vocal in their call for self-government, separate from Great Britain. Māori land title was not understood by the settlers yet they actively pursued land sales. In 1852, the British government passed the New Zealand Constitution Act, establishing an elected New Zealand Parliament. Responsible government, where this Parliament had the authority to appoint Cabinet, was achieved a few years later. At first, Māori had little interest in the new Parliament, seeing it as a Pākehā institution with no real relevance to them because according to Te Tiriti they still had authority over their own resources and law.
Later, however, there was an increasing desire by Māori to participate in Parliament.The New Zealand Wars of the 1860s, coupled with ongoing land seizures, convinced many Māori that the "settler Parliament" now had a major impact on them, and that their voices needed to be heard in it.
There was never any law barring Māori from election to Parliament, nor barring them from voting, in practice, however, other laws made it virtually impossible. The major stumbling block was the property qualification, which required voters to own a certain amount of land. While Māori owned a large portion of New Zealand, most of this was held in common, not under individual title. As such, few individual Māori met the property requirement personally – even if they were part-owners of vast amounts of land, they did not have any land which they owned exclusively, and so did not qualify to vote.
In 1867, however, Parliament passed the Maori Representation Act, which created four special electorates for Māori. These seats did not have a property qualification. The creation of the seats was controversial, being opposed by those Pākehā who saw Māori as uncivilised. It was also opposed by a small group which felt that by creating separate Māori electorates, Māori would be sidelined, as Pākehā politicians would not have to consult Māori opinion as they would if Māori voted in general electorates. There was also debate about the number of seats – if Māori had been given a number of seats equivalent to their population, they would have had around fifteen seats, not four. One of the more radical MPs in Parliament, James FitzGerald, actually called for Māori to be given a third of the seats in Parliament, but this was widely seen as excessive. In the end, the seats were approved based mainly on a desire to improve relations with Māori and reduce military conflict. The first Māori MPs took their seats in 1868.