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New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says Maori in the north don’t like being misused . . . and that’s what cost Hone Harawira his seat.
The Mana leader was beaten by Labour’s Kelvin Davis by 1100 votes on the night, although he’s refusing to concede until specials are counted.
The defeat means the failure of the play by Internet Party funder Kim Dotcom to get MPs into parliament on his coattails.
Mr Peters says it was always a gamble by Mr Harawira.
"I’m sure Hone thought ‘Look, I’ve got one seat, I haven’t got the resources to get any more and build a movement, I’ll get support from this guy and build a movement.’ Now the terrible cost of that is had be been a Maori financier or someone like that Hone would have got away with it. But it wasn’t. It was a guy who had been here five minutes. The whole image of somebody floating in from Germany, buying an election just was preposterous," he says.
Mr Peters says New Zealand First’s prospects of being part of a Government were harmed by the shambles Labour made of its campaign, including its relationship with the Greens.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH WINSTON PETERS CLICK ON THE LINK
https://secure.zeald.com/uma/play_podcast?podlink=MjIzNDU=
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