December 07, 2016
English best for Maori Party
Maori Party co-leader Marama Fox says the party knows it can work with Bill English as prime minister.
National’s caucus will meet next Monday to choose a new leader, with Mr English, Health Minister Jonathan Coleman and Corrections Minister Judith Collins vying for the job.
The Maori Party came under fire from Labour’s Meka Whaitiri for its glowing assessment of John Key’s National Government and its endorsement of Mr English.
But Ms Fox says it’s all part of having a mana-enhancing relationship, and the deputy prime minister is the one to continue that.
"Of course we would want somebody who is going to work well with us and I'm not saying we couldn't work well with any of them, I'm saying Bill already knows what our agenda is, he knows how we work, we've been working with him for the past eight years and we've got a good relationship with him so Bill would be our top pick," she says.
Judith Collins has promised a rethink on some policy decisions if she gets the job, including the greater role for iwi that the Maori Party got included in the rewrite of the Resource Management Act.
There's a prospect of a Maori deputy prime minister, with both Paula Bennett and Simon Bridges saying they want to serve under Mr English.
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