March 02, 2014
ACT hungry for any votes
ACT’s new campaign manager wants some of the Maori vote this election.
Richard Prebble has been called in to salvage the party which is struggling with questions of electability because of a change in leadership and the prospect sole MP and former leader John Banks could be ousted from parliament if found guilty of electoral fraud.
The veteran politician says ACT’s championing of property rights, including those of Maori with customary interests in the foreshore and seabed, and its charter schools policy should appeal to Maori.
He says some Maori are stuck in grievance mode.
"Every time I hear them make a political statement, it’s a grievance and somebody else has got to do something about it. And I say hey, at some point you’ve got to kick out of that, but then I know other Maori who are post-grievance mode, and there are far more Maori graduates coming out of university than when I was at varsity, there are Maoris in all the professions, there are now Maoris running very successful businesses and we ought to celebrate their success," he says.
In the 2011 election ACT scored just 230 votes in the Maori seats, an average of 33 per electorate, compared with an average of 375 in the general electorates.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD PREBBLE CLICK ON THE LINK
http://www.waateanews.com/play_podcast?podlink=MTU2NjE=
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