November 20, 2019
Maori caucus seeking election momentum
The head of Labour’s Māori caucus says the Māori MPs are looking for some wins in the next couple of months to give them momentum for election year.
Willie Jackson has again been confirmed to coordinate the party’s campaign for the Māori seats.
He says at the last election they prevailed despite media infatuation with the Māori Party and a lingering perception Labour had betrayed Māori in its response to the foreshore and seabed.
This time it needs to point to what it has been able to achieve in office.
“The reality is we’ve got issues like Oranga Tamariki hanging over our heads in terms of where we’re going, are we being served properly. We’ve got Ihumaatao, we’ve got Whānau Ora, lots of things happening, Māori health, so those are all the challenges and we’ve got to show that we have made some progress in those areas and I am hoping we are able to do that over the next couple of months,” Mr Jackson says.
He says having sitting MP Peeni Henare reconfirmed as the candidate for Tāmaki Makaurau on Saturday was a good start to the campaign.
The party has also confirmed Shanan Halbert will again contest Northcote, which is held by National’s Dan Bidois.
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