New Zealand’s left-wing Labour Party, which has the second-highest number of seats in parliament, will go to the next election with a minority White list of candidates.
The list of 72 candidates for the November poll contains 30 newcomers and includes Indian police superintendent Rakesh Naidoo, who did not inform his superiors he was running, sparking concerns about political impartiality in New Zealand Police.
An analysis of the Labour Party list by political commentator William McGimpsey found just 30 candidates are ethnically European, or 41.7%, while 23.6% (17 candidates) are Maori, 15.3% (11) are Pacific Islander, 12.5% (9) are Asian and 6.9% (5) are mixed or of other ethnicities.
Men make up 47% of the list with 34 candidates compared to 38 female candidates, and there are only 19 White male candidates, or 26.4% of the total.
“The traditional party of the Kiwi worker is now minority White,” Mr McGimpsey said in The Zeitgeist.
“As the Great Replacement progresses, big tent political parties will increasingly fill their ranks with imported ethnic minorities,” he told Noticer News.
“This limits their ability to represent the interests of the heritage population, moving democracy towards a multicultural consensus in a unidirectional ratchet-like fashion.”
The “European only” population of New Zealand was 2,790,354, or 55.9% at the time of the 2023 Census, down from 59.8% in 2018, 61.4% in 2013, and 82.4% in 1996, and the Asian population, which includes Chinese, Indians and Southeast Asians, and now outnumbers Maoris.
Party president Jill Day said last week the Labour Party was “proud” of the list’s diversity, saying it “looks like Aotearoa New Zealand”, while leader Chris Hipkins also emphasised that there was a “really rich diversity of candidates”.
Mr Hopkins also said he was “excited” to have Mr Naidoo on the Labour team.
“He’s got some amazing ideas about how New Zealand can really embrace multiculturalism and bring communities together,” he told Midday Report.
The appearance of Mr Rakesh on the list led to criticism from both the New Zealand Police Commissioner and the police minister, who revealed he had only informed them two days before the official unveiling.
New Zealand’s National Party Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has also focused on diversity and multiculturalism during his tenure in the top job, pandering to minority groups and signing a controversial Free Trade Agreement with India.
Header image: Chris Hipkins engaging in ethnic cosplay at a Diwali event (Labour Party).
