GUEST BLOG: Willie Jackson – Courageous Move from Labour Māori MPs
Congratulations to Labour’s Māori seat Members of Parliament who have asked to not be included on the parties list for this year’s election.
It is a brave decision from the MPs who have surprised and outmanoeuvred their opponents. One of the key strategies for the Māori and Mana parties has been the 2-for-1 which was based on Māori voters giving them the electorate vote and Labour their list vote.
However, that idea is now dead and has driven Marama Fox and Hone Harawira nuts! So much so, that they are now making up stories that Labour leader Andrew Little pushed the Māori MPs into walking away from the list.
Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the Māori MPs were adamant that this was the strategy for them. They want the best chance and opportunity to take the Māori and Mana parties out and are sick and tired of the continual nonsense that has been put out by the likes of Marama and Hone.
The line that Andrew Little pushed his MPs off the list is an insult to our Labour MPs’ intelligence, and Marama and Hone should do themselves a favour and engage their brains before they open their mouths. And in terms of this constant waffle about Andrew not being allowed to talk about Kaupapa Māori, what’s that about?
How is it that Marama Fox, Te Ururoa Flavell, and even Hone Harawira talk about Kaupapa Pākeha every day and then Marama and Te Ururoa chase their Pākeha rangatira Prime Minister Bill English around the house, challenging him ‘supposedly’ over kaupapa Pākeha issues, but the minute the Pākeha leader in Labour talks about Kaupapa Māori, they label him a racist! What a load of rubbish.
And then Hone sends out a whole press release pouring dirt over Andrew Little for daring to talk about Kaupapa Māori, this the very same person who wanted to put a German in his Te Tai Tokerau seat! Yeah, that’s really kaupapa Māori Hone! I really am getting tired of the hypocrisy and drivel coming from this Māori/Mana group.
The reality is that they are shocked and hurt by how brave the Labour MPs are, and are now looking to defame and smear the decision to not go on the list because they realise that political oblivion beckons.
The Labour MPs not only want to confront Māori/Mana directly, but also want to bring new Māori MPs in through the list – that is one of the points that underpins this unprecedented strategy and has been somewhat missed by the media despite the Māori MPs being very clear about this in their interviews.
They deserve nothing but praise, not the negative responses from the likes of Marama, Hone, Te Ururoa Flavell and some ignorant sections of the media.
The Māori/Mana’s political strategy is in real trouble – we know that because they are now telling outright lies about the Labour Māori strategy. Sadly, they are desperate, worried, stressed and on edge because they know the end is near and they have been totally trumped by this move from our MPs to not stand on the list.
So I say let’s celebrate Kelvin Davis, Peeni Henare, Nanaia Mahuta, Meka Whaitiri, Adrian Rurawhe and Rino Tirikatene – our Māori seat Labour MPs for the courage they have shown.
I hope the Maori party gets kicked to the curb for supporting the Natz for 8 years.
But think there’s a place in Parliament for Hone Harawira. I don’t think it helps Labour by trying to bring him down.
Hone’s got a lot of supporters and support and many feel he didn’t deserve what happened to him. Mana certainly got more party votes than the Maori party.
Labour missed the ball by not having a deal with Mana forcing one between Mana and The Maori party.
Labour needs to lay off Hone Harawira and Mana and focus their energies defeating the Maori party.
Home would need to grow up and stop sulking when things don’t go his way
it’s embarrassing to see a grown man act like a petulant child
wouldn’t hurt for him to turn up for work occasionally
In fact if the deal falls over between TMP and Mana (and it may well do with the RMA and god knows what other fascist changes to help National get it through) maybe Labour should offer the same deal to Hone Hawawira?
The labour party’s negative attitude to other parties of the left (Mana currently but previously Alliance and even the Values party) is the main reason why I will never give them another vote not even my electorate vote.
Will Willie Jackson’s party list ranking be affected by this decision?
Just when I thought the strategy wonks at Labour HQ had finally got their heads around MMP, they do this *facepalm*. The strategy was obvious even without Willie spelling it out, but it could backfire really badly. Māori Party have been distancing themselves from National for at least a year, not least by their accomodation with Mana, possibly giving themselves the wiggle room to support a future Labour/ Greens government. By doing this, Labour have driven them back into the arms of National.
Depending on how they feel about the particular candidates in their electorate, Māori roll voters could choose to give their electorate vote Labour and their party vote to Māori Party, or vice-versa. This could drive their party vote, which is normally invisible without an electron microscope, over the 5% threshold, especially if Mana don’t run a party list, which is made more likely by being slapped in the face by Labour *again*. Even if they don’t get to 5%, if even a single Māori Party candidate wins their seat, an increased part vote would still bring in more MPs.
Despite being the one Māori seat candidate outside Labour who would definitely never join a National government, the big loser in this Labour strategy is Hone Harawira, who has little to no chance of getting in via a party list (unless he rejoins Māori Party and gets a top three spot). Kelvin Davis definitely should have been kept on the party list, potentially giving Labour one more seat, or at the very least denying National one. One again, Davis’ electorate ambitions have been allowed to threaten the opposition’s chances of changing the government.
Willie is right to criticize the Māori Party for using a strategic decision by the party to smear Andrew Little, but people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, with similarly facile smears against their political rivals, like:
The person Harawira wanted to put in the Te Tai Tokerau seat was himself, and as Willie well knows, the “German” was not even on the Internet-Mana party list, so there was so possible way he was being put into any parliamentary seat. Mana’s deal with the Internet Party recognised that elections are a numbers game that relies on building a “broad church”, just like the Labour/ Greens deal does. Willie’s attempt to twist this into something sinister only undermines the few legitimate points in his piece.