Maori Party stands again in Te Tai Tokerau for 2020

In a press release, Facebook and Instagram post, the Maori Party announced their candidate for the 2020 Election.

At this point, I'm not seeking to promote any particular candidate over any others at this stage.

As I tend to do though in my entries, I'll post up the numbers for people to see.

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Quick Look at

Political Stats for Te Paati Maori in the Electorate of Te Tai Tokerau

Year	Candidate Votes	Party Votes	Win/Lose
2005	9,965	6,151	Win
2008	12,019	6,204	Win
2011	3,114	2,208	Lose
2014	2,579	2,300	Lose
2017	-	1615	-
2020	?	?	?

Source: https://www.electionresults.govt.nz/

Image Credit: https://www.parliament.nz/

NB: In terms of my own vote and politics this year, I am living in the Te Tai Tokerau Electorate and as of writing, remain somewhat undecided.

My own Political Risks.. and how they may finally be paying off

Tena Koutou

It know it has been a wee while since my last blog post. Alot has been happening in my life.

But I thought I'd share this.
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Anyone that Googles my name... will find one of THE MOST Embarrassing videos of my Political Career. It is in hindsight one of the GREATEST Political risks I have EVER Taken.

I have spoken at length about all of that in the past.

A new angle though... that is my first greatest political risk I ever took and that it took place in 2014.
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It generated a raft of news for 1 day at least... but for me personally I feel.. has left an indeliable negative mark on my career and maybe even to some extent the image, people have of me in public life.
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Next though, among the 2 GREATEST Political Risks I have EVER Taken, was a video filmed on the 5th of November 2017, known as 'the Marae video'.

MASSIVE MASSIVE Contrasts in the 2... but both equally risky. That is undeniable.

People are political and hold political opinions, so viewed either isolated from each other OR in conjunction... they present again... a particular image.
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Now if you DO view them together... my personal hope is that YOU see .. primarily my transition away from the Maori Party.
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Whats LESS Obvious is the undertones of both videos... and how interestingly enough they actually relate to a whole OTHER Party... That is... the New Zealand Labour Party (Te Roopu Reipa)

See, the 2014 video is me asking (however loudly) for the Labour Leader to be inclusive and think more broadly about Maori representation... something I still believe in today.
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The 2017 video presents (for Politicos) a huge contrast to the #HoakeTatou Labour Maori Campaign, and if you haven't worked it out speaks to it's huge power and the way it did in fact connect. If you don't get that from watching the first time... watch again and see Now.
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It needs to be said though.... BOTH Videos serve as huge risks at the time they were created.

It bears mentioning.. that the 2014 video ACTUALLY got me in trouble with the Maori Party all those years ago.... and the risk ultimately came to a head when in 2015 I was forced to resign from the Maori Party.
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The 2017 video was an attempt at trying to right the wrong of the 2014 video.. but also an attempt at putting across a more mature political view.... BUT Again.. you won't be suprised to know that the Maori Party didn't like the 2017 Marae video at all..
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Let me now tell you how this all holds relevance in November 2018...

WELL.. The 2017 Video was a way of... telling LABOUR That I am well and truly DONE with the Maori Party and that I am very very firmly in the Labour Camp... I support Labour.
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In the last 12 months since that 2017 Marae video.... the Tamaki Makaurau Labour Party has heartily embraced me, as has the Maori part (Te Kaunihera Maori) of the Labour Party.
I've cheered on my MP Peeni in his achievements and I've supported 2 Labour Candidates of Maori descent (Brooke Loader and Shanan Halbert)

You'll remember these beautiful photos of me as personal translator for former Labour Leader Hon. Andrew Little at a local Event.

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Most rewarding of all... while I can't release the exact details.... I can inform all that thus far one of the greatest payoffs of the political risk taken exactly a year ago on the 5th of November...

Was met today... in that I was privileged to push a new policy for New Zealand Labour (nothing major, but it is based on fairness and democracy). The Party today accepted my policy which I hope will be released in due course.
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As I write I am overwhelmed with satisfaction and forgivably very proud of myself but most of all as I write this... I am proud to be

Advice for my former Party - the Maori Party

There are some who'd advise against me sharing these thoughts and ideas, saying that 'I should not look to my past'. Others who may say 'Is there a point to you saying this?'. Others still may contend that 'It does nothing'... or even worse.. I may be called something of a traitor.

I do NOT write this for any of those people particularly.

I write for those genuine friends, family and associates of mine who remain in, who support, who vote for the Maori Party... but who are OPEN to a different view.

Whanau...

I can not categorically say that the Maori Party in 2017 had a highly successful campaign. In hindsight, I think they should reflect on the 2 kawenata they signed for 2016 and 2017 with MANA and One Pacific. I don't think that any of those Kawenata served the Maori Party, MANA Movement or One Pacific. I don't know that having Non-Maori candidates in the Maori Party, truly served their purposes or kaupapa.

I can NOT contend that it was in the best interests of Rahui Papa and Tukuroirangi Morgan to have the Maori King's support for the Maori Party. In fact in the Maori Party's history, it is not a strong result compared to previous years (2008 and 2005).

I (like the rest of the country) was shocked when I heard that Te Ururoa Flavell lost the Waiariki seat, I had predicted that he would win. He did not.

I think even with standing in many General Seats, this did not help the overall Party vote. We see that they had THE WORST Party vote result, in the Party's history.
I HAVE to say, some of their General seat candidates were naive. Others could never get away from news stories of corruption. Some still, were said to have expressed homophobic views. None of this served the purposes of the Maori Party.

Now all of this... on top of some of the obvious... like maori voters (rightly or wrongly) continually associating the Maori Party with the National Party, or controversial legislation like Ture Whenua reforms, the lack of focus on the issues that affected the average Maori....

ALL of this contributed to the Maori Party's poorest showing EVER!!!

And so whanau, there is no way, that anyone can say with certainty that the Maori Party can have a great future.

I do not suggest that in it's current form, with the current candidates, current executive, current leadership, current policies and current marketing..... that the Maori Party can survive.

In fact, I also do not encourage the Maori Party to continue to do what it has done this year. It would be silly to do so.

This was the worst result for the Maori Party... and may I say... doing in 2017 what was called for by members in previous Elections is NOT how to win!!!!!!! Those calls were specific to those previous years. Conditions have proven different in 2017... and the Maori Party did not see this or read this properly.
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My advice to my former Party, is that the great gains of previous terms like Whanau Ora, U.N.D.R.I.P and others are won and continued. The Maori seats are also secured for survival.
The Maori Party in it's current form has served a purpose and a time passed.

It it's current form it serves NO Purpose. I don't think it should continue in it's current form.
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It is not about a 'Rejig, Reimagine, Rethink'. NO!!!! It is time to set this kaupapa of the Maori Party (2004 - 2017) to rest, to END!!!

There is no recovery from the electoral difficulties of this year. The people and members need to move on.... and rethink individually what they should do.
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To be fair, or try to seem so... all hope may no be lost... but something more than radical needs to happen.... and there is no way of knowing what that is at this point.


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Note that I caveat everything I say; I am a former member and former voter of and for the Maori Party. It may be obvious to some that I am no longer a member and am in fact a member of another Party.

Who does the Maori Party work for

This is just my opinion.

26/10/2014

Kia Ora.

This flowing off my fingers, just the very way I think it.

I am typing late at night, having just been woken from a dream. In the dream, I was having a poignant conversation.

New Zealand’s General Election happened just over a month ago. The New Government has been sworn in, as has the 51^st Parliament, which is now sitting.

We have something unprecedented in New Zealand history; that is that 30% of the New Zealand Legislature (people who make our laws) are Now, all MAORI.

We can be grateful that that Legislature has something Unique. What is unique is that we have seats that are there for MAORI. There are 7 MAORI Seats. All these 7 MAORI Seats are there, so that the people sitting in them work for MAORI.

Unfortunately, in that Legislature of 121 MPs, we have (since our inception 10 years ago) the lowest number of MAORI PARTY MPs. We only have 2.

THE RUB

If we are real with ourselves, the reason why we have the lowest number, all comes down how we told people our message. Who do we work for? Do THEY know what we do? Do THEY know who we are?

I now wish to make a simplistic statement about political perception and messaging in New Zealand.

See tables below

I will name all the Parties represented in the Parliament (as well as others that ran in the General Election, but who didn’t make it in).

PARTY	WHO THEY WORK FOR???
National	Business people, Corporations
Labour	Workers
Greens	Environmentalists
NZ First	Elderly people
United Future	Fisherman, “Middle New Zealand”
ACT	Taxpayers, Consumers

PARTY	WHO THEY WORK FOR???
Conservative Party	Conservative people
Internet Party	Internet Users
ALCP	Cannabis Users
MANA Movement	Poor People

We see in the 2 tables above, that messaging tells us who we think political Parties work for, and what we associate them and their names with.

Again, I come back to 2 questions;

 Who does the Maori Party work for? Do “they” know we work for them?

Above, on the first page, you’ll see MAORI in bold 5 times. But you’ll notice if you re-read those sentences, that I don’t explicitly say the MAORI PARTY works just for MAORI.

That’s because I fundamentally don’t believe that. It is an untrue statement to say that the MAORI PARTY works only for MAORI.

It is more accurate and more true to say that those in the MAORI SEATS work for MAORI.

The 26 MPs of MAORI descent can also work for MAORI.

Look carefully at the sentences just above. Maori is written 7 times, Maori Party is written twice.

We have 2 Maori Party MPs. We have 7 Maori seats.

Again, the 2 questions;

Who does the Maori Party work for? Do “they” know we work for them?

You may say, “Hang on, 6 of the 7 Maori Seats are with Labour, we only have 1 out of 7”.

Yes, that’s obviously true. What may not be obvious though, is that, parties aside, every one of the 7 Maori people in the 7 Maori seats all have whakapapa Maori, have Maori families and in each in their unique ways are committed to Kaupapa Maori. And whether we like it or not, Maori voters voted for these 7 Maori people to represent them in the 51^st Parliament.

What is critical is that the way all votes fell in the 2014 New Zealand General Election, meant that we have 30% of our Parliament made up of Maori.

Crucially for the Maori Party, for the first time, we have victory not just with voters in the Maori seats. Proportionately, a percentage of voters on the ‘General Roll’ have helped to gift us List MP.

This to me, shows that a percentage (though very small) of New Zealand voters overall, know who we work for and thus gave us that confidence.

The Maori Party does NOT work for Maori, The Maori Party works for WHANAU.WHANAU are at the heart of our policies. WHANAU are at the heart of who we are. WHANAU are our focus. We are WHANAU. We are a WHANAU. WHANAU are our yardstick, WHANAU are our gauge. WHANAU tell us where to go, WHANAU tell us what to do.

That is who I believe, the Maori Party works for. I believe the Maori Party works for Whanau.
I am sure you believe that too. We need to tell WHANAU that we work for them. WHANAU need to know that we work for them. If all WHANAU knew who we worked for, and voted accordingly, then the MAORI PARTY would not just be the Largest Party in the NZ Parliament, we’d be the only Party in NZ Parliament. That is because, everyone has a WHANAU. If from now on, we work with this in mind, we will always do better.

Kia Ora.

My opinion

This is all my own opinion.

It is just what I think.

It's all just my own opinion. It's my own thoughts.
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I cast my mind back to the 2008 Election.

For Maori, alot had lead to them electing 5 Maori Party MPs in the Maori seats.

Primary among them were the Tuhoe raids, and the rejection bu the NZ Government of the U.N.D.R.I.P

The Maori Party had been in Parliament for a full term, since the 2005 Election. They had debated every issue and opposed many many things, voting many many things down.

By giving the Maori Party 5 MPs, Maori voters at that time, were giving there confidence and their trust to the Maori Party.

Let's remember, Parekura Horomia was still alive. Hone Harawira was a Maori Party MP. (I voted for him in 2008)

We had no way of increasing Labour's bloc, and thus helping them get in to Government. And of course, we have no assurance they would've even asked, had they still been in Government.
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Now, let's explore the possibility, 6 years ago of STAYING in Opposition.

We'd still be in Parliament. We'd still have 5 MPs.

But the Maori Party were the unheard of, Maori lot.

And what could we have done. We had a bigger team. We had a strong membership. We had a firm Party structure, up and down the country.

BUT; No power. No real say. And we could effect NOTHING!!!!

All the aspirations and hopes given to us, would come to nothing, as we had no way to achieve them.

The other factor to consider, was that National had run a campaign on getting rid of the very Maori seats that the Maori Party (and Parekura and Nanaia) had won.

National were about to team up with ACT and United Future.

The Global recession was destroying Maori hopes, Maori dreams, Maori jobs and Maori livelihoods.

We had a fairly New Maori King.

We had a Maori Council, but I am not sure that grassroots really knew who they were.
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So the Maori World, Maori people and the Maori Party were set up for lack of leadership, lack of resourcing, lack of help and alot more to lose.
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The Free market could've destroyed us, and both major parties wouldn't care who we were or What we said or did. Five little fish in a big Pakeha sea.

The Maori Party had made NO Law changes, they had NO Funding for projects of initiatives.
They talked alot, but didn't do much.
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And so....

IN MY OPINION, I believe, that considering all of that;

If the Maori Party had NOT Gone in to Government in 2008;

They would've been out of Parliament in 2011.

Hone gone, Pita gone, Tariana gone, Rahui gone, Te Ururoa gone...

They'd be gone too early.. without having made any great gains

No Maori Party, no Mana Movement...

No one to fight for Mana Motuhake, No Champions of Tino Rangatiratanga,

Treaty Partner

Tonight, our tupuna have given me a message. A message of hope. A message of clarity.
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I have, these last few days, been re-invigorating myself in terms of the Maori Party. The way I have done this is by sharing our beautiful history as a Party, with some amazing rangatahi.

It is on the back of this, having spent this afternoon at the local marae with them, that I believe, the tupuna decided to share this message with me.
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The message, if I can attempt to put it in written words is this:

Yes. The Maori Party is us. We are the Maori Party.

The Maori Party is the realization of the dreams and goals we left on Earth.

The Maori Party has taken it's rightful place in the New Zealand Government as Treaty Partners.
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Only the Maori Party can be the true treaty partner. Only the Maori Party can be the Treaty Partner.

The two major parties can only seek to represent Crown interests, and the ways of the Crown.

But the New Zealand Government must always have a Treaty Partner. Only our Maori Party, can be that.

Tangata Whenua and Democracy

This, like all my blogs, gives my OWN opinion. It's is only my opinion.

It is open to discussion, criticism, critique and debate. This is welcome!!
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Before reading on, have a read of this entry. It gives context to my beliefs in relation to all of this.

http://teratahikairosblog.blogspot.co.nz/2013/07/tino-rangatiratanga.html
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I believe in democracy. I believe in giving all people the chance to have and be empowered, this is the centre of many strong Governments across the world.

Though, not just Governments, but many organisations have decisions taken up by voting.

To have your say and for it to be heard, is what I believe Democracy is.

We need this. And this will always shape, form and stabilise Aotearoa-New Zealand as we know it.

Pure Democracy can give expression to Tino Rangatiratanga, in the form that the above blog entry espouses.
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For me though, I know that Democracy as it is, has NOT always been used in the best ways for MAORI.

In fact, the very essence of Democracy, means that Maori are NOT special, because all groups can have a say.

And that for me is the rub.

Democracy is not an essential part of pre-colonisation. In those times, Democracy did NOT play a huge role in the Governance of Whanau, Hapuu and Iwi.

We were "governed" by tikanga. Or in modern terms, Natural Law determined our movements and our lives.

The height of the expression thereof, fell upon our Ariki and Rangatira.

The proof thereof, is in the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This was not a document, debated over in the public arena. Referenda were not taken on this. Votes were not cast by the whole population of Aoteroa, to give credence to that document. Rangatira signed it, and thus gave it mana.
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OF COURSE, our country, our people, indeed all of us are NOT "governed" in this way today.

Democracy reigns. Choice, voting, wide discussion etc, etc.
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But again I say... WHAT ABOUT MAORI?????

How can we best use Democracy? What does Democracy have to offer Maori?
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Well, I want to take an international context.

In the Pacific, there's Fiji and Tonga.

In Asia, there's China, Thailand, Vietnam and Korea.

In the America's it's Cuba.

In Africa it's Swaziland.

And of course, most of the Middle East.
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These are countries, where DEMOCRACY does not play a prominent role.

There are also other countries were there are varying degrees of 'democracy'. Some countries have none, in the form that we in Aotearoa-New Zealand are familiar with.
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SO WHAT ABOUT MAORI?????

Well our entrance, our part, our governance is in the implementation and expression of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

That is our modern Foundation as a people.

Our credence, our modern racial whakapapa, our modern power, our stake in the ground, our part to play.... it ALL rests on Te Tiriti.

And so, in modern times, for our governance and for OUR MANA..... For our power, our Tino Rangatiratanga.... ALL rests in Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
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Our interaction with and use of Democracy in the modern form MUST be informed by our foundation, Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi is our voice. And we continue to give power to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

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In Election year... let this be our frame of mind. Te Tiriti o Waitangi must guide our thinking, as we participate in Democracy.

Maori are at the heart of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. 

Our votes, in Election year, must always be to empower of Tiriti voice.

We are Tiriti Partners.

Let us always be SO.