August 18, 2013
Ticket strategy weighed for poll
Nominations for local body elections have closed, and around the country Māori candidates are trying to attract enough votes to get them to the table.
Waikato has two Māori wards for the first time, with Tainui executive member Tipa Mahuta hoping her association with the One Waikato ticket will help her take the Ngā Hau e Wha ward.
Five candidates are standing in the Ngā Tai ki Uta ward, which stretches from Cape Colville to Taupo, including journalist Christine Webster and Te Arawa River Iwi Trust chair Roger Pikia.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council is the only other council with Māori wards, with sitting councillor Tai Eru joining the One Bay of Plenty ticket for his bid to retain the Okurei – Rotorua Māori seat, and Raewyn Bennett in Mauao and Tipene Marr in Kohi also seeking re-election.
In Tai Tokerau, Nine Māori candidates are seeking election for the Whangarei District Council, Northland Regional Council and Northland District Health Board under the banner of Tu Kotahi.
However, a number of high profile Māori candidates are standing independently, including former MPs Ian Peters and Dover Samuels.
Mr Samuels, who wants to get back onto the Northland regional council, says local elections are about issues like economic development and environmental protection.
"These issues affect not only Māori, they affect the whole lot of us. When you really look at who has been successful and who has not, if people even stand on a party ticket it can put people off, so when you look at an election such as ours, it's the credibility of the individual candidate that moves people to put a tick beside their name," he says.
The elections will be run by postal vote ending on Saturday October 12.
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