WAATEA NEWS COLUMN: Ramifications of Tāmaki Makaurau By-election will shape 2026 election
Whoever wins on Saturday in the Tāmaki Makaurau By-election will speak volumes to the 2026 election.
If the Māori Party wins, it will be a political earthquake that suggests social media first campaign tactics can reset the political engagement culture of politics in a profound way.
It will say that the voters of Tāmaki Makaurau expect Labour to work with the Māori Party, not as a junior but as an equal. The Political Right will have a field day with that result.
If the Labour Party wins, it will be the momentum they need for 2026 and it will prove that the much maligned Labour Party ‘machine’ is back and beyond functional.
A Labour Party win will say that the voters of Tāmaki Makaurau expect the Māori Party to work with Labour, not the other way around.
If Hannah Tamaki gets close to winning because of the very low turn out, that in of itself will speak volumes.
Democracy is a fragile thing, if a large cross section of the electorate don’t vote, those rights can be undermined by what the result ends up saying.
Oriini and Peeni have run spectacular campaigns that have showcased the very best of Māoridom in terms of debate.
The people must be the deciders.
WAATEA NEWS COLUMN:
Ramifications of Tāmaki Makaurau By-election will shape 2026 election
Who had the best vote gathering strategy and who wins has iittle ramimfication.
Ramifications of what happens after the Tāmaki Makaurau By-election will shape 2026 election.
In New Zealand one term governments are incredibly rare.
Will the leaders of the Labour, Te Pati Maori and Green party get together to meet to discuss the best way to maximise the Left vote to make sure this government is a one term government?
After their meeting will all three leaders stand together for a photo op. to signify their joint determination to, achieve a Labour led coalition government?
Will all three take the fight to the government?
Or will all three retreat to their separate foxholes for another three years?
https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/foxhole#:~:text=A%20foxhole%20is%20a%20hole,protected%20somewhat%20against%20enemy%20fire.
WAATEA NEWS COLUMN:
“Whoever wins on Saturday in the Tāmaki Makaurau By-election will speak volumes to the 2026 election.”
Whoever wins on Satruday – it is what happens ‘after’ the Tamaki Makaurau By-election that will speak volumes.
Will the Labour, Green and Te Pati Maori get in a room together and work out how to defeat this government as Hone Harawira asks them to?
Hone Harawira is arguably the greatest living Maori political elder statesman. Nobody has fought harder for Maori on every possible platform available to him, on the university campus, on hikoi, on land occupations, on picket lines, in parliament. We all need to listen to what he has to say.
HONE HARAWIRA:
“The reality is that this government is focused on the destruction of Māori, absolute destruction of Māori whānau, Māori language, Māori kaupapa, Māori economic development, Māori environmental policies, Māori anything……”
“……There’s an understanding that we can hold this and if we work with the others, we can be part of a government in 2026.
So my whole view is: stop taking shots at one another, stop saying my policy is better than yours. Start understanding that strategically, there are either the three of them at the table or there’s nothing.”
Starting at 25:26 minutes in, listen to Hone Harawira’s full remarks. Just click on the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeWkjx2cxoU&t=9s
Certainly, one hopes that the conspiracy to take the seat away from the Maori Party does not succeed, and Labour is forced to adopt some actual left-wing policies from the Maori Party.