March 30, 2020
Tamihere calls for time out on election
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The Māori Party’s Tāmaki Makaurau candidate wants the election put off for a year.
John Tamihere says he’s no longer thinking about his campaign as he leads the response of the Waipareira Trust and North Island Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He says it’s no time for making decisions that could be motivated by political considerations rather than what is necessary at a time of crisis.
"No vaccines are coming here for the next 18 months. This thing is going to roll through the community. A large number will get it and have immunity very quickly. A big number of our people will not because we have a predisposition to influenza. We have to hunker down now and every piece of energy has to go into defending our people," he says.
John Tamihere says by September 2021 voters will be able to judge what could and should have been done better, and how well Māori fared.
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