January 28, 2014
Job a Prime topic for research
Far North district councillor Willow-Jean Prime is using her electoral success as the basis for some deeper study.
Ms Prime ran an effective marae-based campaign to make her the only Maori to win a seat in an area where Maori make up more than 40 percent of the population.
Before running she submitted a proposal to Waikato University for a doctoral thesis on local government and Maori in Te Tai Tokerau, which she will do with the help of a scholarship from the university’s Centre for Indigenous and Maori Governance.
She says there will be plenty of research material.
"There’s a lot to do and the time is going really quickly so I just want to get stuck in to our issues up here. The biggest one facing us is the unitary authority proposal from the Local Government Commission which could see the four councils in the Tai Tokerau combining. That could mean the term is shortened and I'm not too sure whether I would stand for the super Tai Tokerau council or not, I'm not sure, So where to from there? Maybe the PhD might open up opportunities," she says.
Willow Jean Prime says it’s great that her sister Season-Mary has also won a doctoral scholarship, because they will be able to support each other in their studies.
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