The Herald on Sunday editorial wades into the state of the National Party’s relations with Maori.

The biggest worry about the state of the relationship between National and the Maori Party is that the Prime Minister doesn’t seem to have noticed that there is a problem.

It certainly was a bizzare few days last week as John Key’s political judgement seemed to totally desert him. It would be interesting to know what David Farrar’s polling is telling National about its relations with Maori, but activities of the last week indicate they seem to think it is doing them some damage.

In any case his dumb joke about being eaten by Tuhoe is not really the point here, its where it fits in his view of relations with Tuhoe and Maori in general. As the editorial says

But Tuhoe spokesman Tamati Kruger has made it plain that it was the joke’s timing and context, not its content, that was problematic. A joke’s reception depends entirely on the quality and depth of the relationship between the jokester and his target. To say Key’s comment, a few days after a major slight, was ill-timed and misjudged is an understatement.

Treaty negotiations are a critical element of race relations in New Zealand. Their success relies on good faith and honesty. I am not saying Labour got everything right in this space, but it is essential that both parties in a negotiation know where they stand. I think Michael Cullen particularly understood this in his time as Treaty Negotiations Minister. When Tariana Turia says John Key’s approach lacks “integrity”, that is a problem.

So, where to from here? National’s relationship with the Maori Party is seemingly on shakey gorund. But what is more important for the long term political landscape is not what this means in terms of the Maori Party, but of Maori voters.

With Maori unemployment, especially among young people still sky high, a rising cost of living and the prospects of tax shuffle that will be unfair to many Maori families, Maori voters will be wanting to see their representatives find solutions to those problems. Not propping up a government that seems to have lost interest in their concerns.