Posted by Blogger Name. Category:
Dr Pita Sharples
,
Hone Harawira
,
Maori Party
,
Tariana Turia
,
Te Ururoa Flavell
,
Tu Maori Mai
,
Whanau Ora
The Maori Party is at a crossroads. It has just celebrated its tenth anniversary, but faces a fight for survival at the General Election on 20 September. But as Michael Fox reports on Stuff, the party isn't going down without a fight:
When the soldiers of 28th Maori Battalion returned from World War II, their commanding officer told them to go back to their mountains and marae but to remember to "stand as Maori".
In 2014, the Maori Party has adopted that theme, Tu Maori Mai (Stand as Maori), as its rallying cry for the election as it seeks to win back favour and claim all seven Maori seats.
As the party prepared to launch its election campaign in Rotorua today, co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell said he believed it had proven the value of an independent Maori voice over the past six years and winning the seven seats would give it influence over any incoming government in what is shaping as a tight election race.
"We think that . . . an appropriate call for our people now is to stand as Maori at this important vote and that's the call. That's us."
This election shapes as a major test for the party, which won four seats in 2005, five in 2008 and three in 2011, and is losing co-founders Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples to retirement in September.
The party is polling poorly and some are writing it off, but Waiariki MP Flavell said the election was a "golden opportunity" to consolidate Maori influence in Parliament.
The retirements of Dr Sharples and Mrs Turia will present the Maori Party with enormous challenges; they have been the faces of the party since its inception. It is imperative that Te Ururoa Flavell hold onto Waiariki ahead of Annette Sykes.
And it's interesting to see criticism of the Maori Party for having been too close to National; read on:
Opposition parties have painted the party as too close to National, but Flavell said it would be asking voters to compare its achievements with those of Labour's Maori MPs and Mana's Hone Harawira.
"If you actually want to achieve something, you've got to be there and that's what we're determined to do, but you've got to get the numbers in order to have real influence and we remain focused on that - on winning all of seven seats."
The party cites Whanau Ora, the insulation of 235,000 homes under the Warm Up New Zealand scheme, and pushing up the excise on cigarettes as some of its successes.
It says it has influenced the Government's thinking on poverty and Maori issues and helped prevent the the passing of legislation it did not agree with, such as the Employment Relations Bill.
Maori affairs commentator Jon Stokes praised the impact of the party, saying its greatest achievement was ensuring the Government remained mindful of the need to "bring Maori along".
It had helped protect Maori from the worst effects of global financial crisis, as it usually bore the brunt of such economic downturns.
"The involvement of the Maori Party helped mitigate and minimise the hurt that Maori would've normally experienced, which is not to say that they didn't experience it, it's just that . . . no one ever considers how hard it could've been."
On balance, we reckon the Maori Party has achieved more for Maori by being in the tent with John Key and National than it would have on the outside looking in. Whanau Ora was the party's biggest policy win, and whilst its still too early to assess the success of the initiative, there are some promising signs.
They've certainly achieved more for Maori than Hone Harawira has, unless you count hardening opinion as an achievement (which we don't). Whilst we believe that at some point in the not-to-distant future there needs to be a debate over the future of the Maori seats, in the meantime we believe that the Maori Party gives those who choose the Maori electoral option stronger representation than they get from opposition parties.
We echo Te Ururoa Flavell's call to Maori voters; Tu Maori Mai. Voters can continue to give Maori a strong voice inside government, not on the sidelines.
