We write in respect of our experience of Mixed Member
Proportional Representation.
In 1983, we moved to New Zealand (from Vancouver) for what we
believed would be a short stay. We returned home to
Vancouver in 1998 just after voting in our second MMP election.
When MMP was first advanced in New Zealand by the Law Reform
Commission (after a 10 year investigation into other electoral
processes) we were both skeptical. We accept that we
were inured by the ease of the first past the post
system. It is very easy to pick a candidate if the goal
is simply to elect a particular party.
Upon reflection, however, we realized that first past the post
requires no thought. It does not make citizens consider
candidates and their worth. What it does is put all of
the emphasis on the party they choose. Democracy is not
about parties it is about people.
When the time came for the referendum on MMP to be put to the
public, the emphasis on party politics became very
clear. All of the major parties from the left to the
right were opposed to MMP. Maori politicians were
generally in favour unless they were involved in one of the major
parties and so too were the minor parties (the Greens, New Zealand
First, etc.) who had tried for years to have a candidate enter
parliament.
One day, we were shopping at our neighbourhood produce
store. A parade of politicians came down the street on
floats praising first past the post. We stopped to
watch the noise and bluster. We noticed the owner and
asked him what he thought and his comment was very
telling: “… MMP is very good
for people like me …”. My
fruitier wanted a real voice. Don’t we all
want that opportunity?
MMP makes votes count. Let us demonstrate by
relaying our first experience with MMP. We lived in an
historic up market area of Auckland which bordered on state houses
(government homes for those in need), a substantial Polynesian
population which in general were blue collar workers, and houses
which were being gentrified by young professionals. The
issues in our neighbourhood were very diverse and so were the
people. A Maori woman activist decided to run for a
very left leaning party. She was well known in our
neighbourhood for helping anyone who asked for her
help. She was very outspoken and often
controversial. Sometimes we agreed with her and
sometimes not.
When it came time to voting, we voted for her as the member of
Parliament for our riding. We then voted for the party
we chose and that party was not the party of our
candidate. We did not expect her to win our riding but
she did. Indeed, she won in all of the areas in the
riding and she won very handsomely even though people often
disagreed with her. She won because she had won the
respect of her constituents and she was trusted by those
constituents. She listened and acted for all of us and
tried to make a difference and assisted us all to rally around
important issues. All of this was made entirely clear
by the votes she obtained.
It is, quite frankly, an amazing experience to vote when you
know your vote can make a real difference. MMP, in our
view, affords each of us that opportunity. It makes us
think about our ridings and our community and it makes us think
about how we wish to be represented and by whom.
Thank you for hearing our views.
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