Parliament’s two Chris’s battle it out when it comes to race relations

There’s one thing the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader can agree on - which is that race relations have not worsened under either of their respective governments.

Their comments follow the recent 1News poll which found that 46% of voters thought racial tensions have worsened due to the coalition’s policies.

When asked about the result on Pacific Mornings, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was unsurprisingly defensive.

“Go back and look at the same TVNZ poll a year ago and nothing has changed. And that was under the previous Labour Government. There is no way that you can sit here today telling me that Māori did exceptionally well under Labour for six years.”

Opposition Leader Chris Hipkins fired back at Luxon’s comments and said that the 1News poll last year in July found that 47% said race relations were getting worse.

Hipkins said the questions were different and asked about race relations deteriorating as a whole rather than through government policies.

“You had the National Party running a very divisive campaign alongside the ACT Party around things like co-governance.

“That was deliberately designed to deteriorate race relations in New Zealand and drive a wedge between Māori and non-Māori New Zealanders.

“So yes, this time a year ago, things were getting worse in race relations but it wasn't the government that was driving that. It was actually the opposition, who are now the government.”

The coalition government faced heat at this week’s Koroneihana celebrations at Turangawaewae Marae, which included being labelled “rednecks”by Hipkins.

With what many called a brave move to show up at Koroneihana, Luxon labelled it as something he enjoyed and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to improve outcomes for Māori.

Included in his government’s commitment to improve outcomes for Māori, Luxon backed their decision to repeal Section 7AA aimed at protecting Māori in state care and the disestablishment of Māori Wards.

“We believe very much in what's called localism and devolution, and actually that local communities should make those decisions.

“If they want to have a Māori ward, that's fantastic. Brilliant, excellent, fantastic. But it should be the decision of the local community to do that, not to have it imposed on a local community from Wellington.”

Hipkins on the other hand said the government is setting New Zealand backwards when it comes to race relations.

“He says we'll focus on improving outcomes for Māori. Well, they're not doing so well in that regard so far. You know, there's been a spike in unemployment that disproportionately affects Māori and Pasifika.

“We know that the health system disproportionately underserves Māori and Pacific. So the cuts that they're making in the health system will have a negative impact there.”

What many considered will have a negative impact, the ACT Party’s notorious Treaty Principle Bill which Luxon confirmed that National will only support up to its first reading.

ACT Leader David Seymour labelled the Prime Minister’s behaviour as disrespectful and anti-democratic which Luxon disagreed with.

“I didn't get what I wanted. David Seymour and ACT didn't get what they wanted, which was a full national referendum on it.

“As a government, we came to a conclusion through our coalition agreement, which we will honour, and we must always honour, to make sure that we can deliver that commitment. But as I said, as National Party leader, it's not something we support.”

Hipkins poked fun at the coalition government’s handling of the situation and questioned whether the Prime Minister should be trusted.

“They seem to talk to each other either through the media or through Twitter. I don't think that that's really the way to run a country.

“They really should be getting in a room and sorting out their differences together…But I think what New Zealanders can take from this is pretty clear. If David Seymour doesn't trust Christopher Luxon and doesn't respect Christopher Luxon as Prime Minister, why should the rest of the country?”