of electoral law prompted considerable discussion of the Māori electorates, and some MPs proposed their abolition. Many of the proposals came from members of the opposition, and possibly had political motivations – in general, the Māori MPs had supported the governing Liberal Party, which had held power since 1891. Many MPs alleged frequent cases of corruption in elections for the Māori electorates. Other MPs, however, supported the abolition of Māori electorates for different reasons – Frederick Pirani, a member of the Liberal Party, said that the absence of Māori voters from general electorates prevented "pākehā members of the House from taking that interest in Māori matters that they ought to take". The Māori MPs, however, mounted a strong defence of the electorates, with Wi Pere depicting guaranteed representation in parliament as one of the few rights Māori possessed not "filched from them by the Europeans". The electorates continued in existence. Just a short time later, in 1905, another re-arrangement of electoral law caused the debate to flare up again. The Minister of Māori Affairs, James Carroll, supported proposals for the abolition of Māori electorates, pointing to the fact that he himself had won the general electorate of Waiapu. Other Māori MPs, such as Hōne Heke Ngāpua, remained opposed. In the end, proposals for the abolition or reform of Māori electorates did not proceed. Mid 20th century Considerably later, in 1953, the first ever major re-alignment of Māori electoral boundaries occurred, addressing inequalities in voter numbers. Again, the focus on Māori electorates prompted further debate about their existence. The government of the day, the National Party, had at the time a commitment to the assimilation of Māori, and had no Māori MPs, and so many believed that they would abolish the electorates. However, the government had other matters to attend to, and the issue of the Māori electorates gradually faded from view without any changes. Regardless, the possible abolition of the Māori electorates appeared indicated when they did not appear among the electoral provisions entrenched against future modification. In the 1950s the practice of reserving electorates for Māori was described by some politicians "as a form of 'apartheid', like in South Africa". In 1967, the electoral system whereby four electorate seats were reserved for representatives who were specifically Māori ended. Following the Electoral Amendment Act of 1967, the 100-year-old disqualification preventing Europeans from standing as candidates in Māori electorates was removed.