Research conducted by Talbot Mills for The Inkling

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Methodology

• Results in this report are based upon questions asked in a Talbot Mills Research nation-wide online survey. The basis of the sample is n=1086 nationally representative respondents in New Zealand 18 years of age and over.
• Fieldwork of this online survey was conducted between 25th June to the 6th of July 2023
• The effective maximum sampling error for this sample at the 95% confidence level is ± 3.0%.
  
• All numbers are shown rounded to zero decimal places. Hence specified totals are not always exactly equal to the sum of the specified sub-totals. The differences are seldom more than 1%. (For example: 2.7 + 3.5 = 6.2 would appear: 3 + 4 = 6).

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Poll results

Out of the following principles, applying the same law to everyone equally, keeping the government free from corruption and ensuring every person’s vote has the same value were seen as the most important principles in how we govern ourselves.

Q: Out of the following, what is the most important principle for how we govern ourselves in New Zealand? 2nd most ?; 3rd most? (%)

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29% agreed that Professor Margaret Mutu’s definition of co-governance was good for New Zealand, 36% disagreed and 24% were neutral.

Q: Prof. Margaret Mutu defined co-governance as: “we [Māori] make our own decisions about our own lives, the government makes its own decisions about its people’s lives, and we sit together and make decisions on matters that relate to us both.” How strongly do you agree or disagree co-governance defined like this is good or bad for New Zealand? (%)

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21% agreed and 41% disagreed that arrangements like the Rotorua District Council’s proposed electoral changes strengthen how we govern ourselves.

Q: Last year the Rotorua District Council proposed changing electoral rules so the 22,000 voters on the Māori roll would elect 3 councillors and the 56,000 voters on the general roll would also elect 3 councillors. How strongly do you agree or disagree arrangements like this strengthen how we govern ourselves? (%)

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72% agreed and 8% disagreed that people in New Zealand from different cultural, ethnic, and social backgrounds can find common ground and build a shared future.

Q: How strongly do you agree or disagree that people in New Zealand from different cultural, ethnic, and social backgrounds can find common ground and build a shared future? (%)

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31% agreed and 26% disagreed that the Cabinet manual’s guide on the definition and rules regarding the Treaty of Waitangi strengthens how we govern ourselves.

Q: The Cabinet Manual, a guide for government ministers, states that the Treaty of Waitangi "is regarded as a founding document” and that it may indicate limits on majority decision-making. How strongly do you agree or disagree this strengthens how we govern ourselves? (%)

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