Māori Party Co-leader and Te Tai Hauāuru candidate Debbie Ngarewa-Packer is disappointed with the Te Tai Hauāuru results but is congratulating Rawiri Waititi on his likely win in Waiāriki and is celebrating the probable return of the Māori Party to Parliament.
“I congratulate Jacinda Ardern on her big win tonight and Adrian Rurawhe for winning Te Tai Hauāuru. I look forward to working with the Government to advance the interests of Te Tai Hauāuru,” said Mrs Ngarewa-Packer.
“While I’m disappointed that we didn’t win the seat this time, I am thrilled with Rawiri’s likely win in Waiāriki and the probable return of the Māori Party to Parliament. Rawiri is a phenomenal leader and I can’t wait to see what he achieves on behalf of our people – I will be right there supporting him from the outside.
“I’m not going anywhere. I will be staying on as Māori Party Co-leader, and I make a commitment that I will be standing in Te Tai Hauāuru again in 2023, and that next time we are going to win.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the campaign we’ve run that has released a series of transformative social and environmental policies, engaged with thousands of whānau right across Te Tai Hauāuru and restored belief in our movement.
“We came into this campaign knowing that it was going to be tough and that all the odds were against us. But we also came into with issues of importance to our people – climate justice and seabed mining, inequities and poverty, racism and the Government’s lack of progress on Māori issues.
“We announced a multitude of bold policies that would transform outcomes for our people and our taiao, including on mana motuhake, climate change, incomes, freshwater, education and procurement. Those are policies that we will now work to implement.
“Our Māori Party campaign across the Māori electorates, with our amazing team of seven strong candidates, put pressure on the Labour’s Māori caucus and advanced the policy debate on kaupapa Māori. We have been brave and unapologetically Māori.
“We have rebuilt the Māori Party movement and are humbled by the huge support we’ve received right across Aotearoa. Before this campaign we were written off but it is now clear that the Māori Party will be a permanent fixture in Aotearoa’s political landscape,” said Mrs Ngarewa-Packer.
Yes I am disappointed with our people in Te Tai Hauauru too and our whanau from Tamaki Makaurau, why didn’t they split their votes. Although the Maori Labour candidates must now see based on the voting patterns that they need to do some hard mahi. Otherwise come the next election all those seats will probably swing back to the Maori party, maybe bar one.
The important issues need to be sorted now they are, high Maori prison numbers, water rights, Treaty claims, Ihumatao, jobs and homes for our people. We can not sit back anymore when immigration is forever increasing and this can impact negatively on our rights and our culture. So now is the time to deliver.
It is no good letting our people out of prison when the racist police and our racist justice system are busy putting more in prison, it is like a merry go round. This is not going to be easy but I look forward to seeing how things progress.
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