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Nanaia Mahuta – the Princess who roared
MARTYN BRADBURY
Beloved media commentator Brian Edwards described the Labour Party candidate primary last month as "potential leaders cavorting round the country like teenage girls having a pillow fight at a sleepover."
He's being polite.
Cunliffe's departure as Labour leader has left a hole larger than him. Who is the Labour Party and what it actually represents wasn't answered by his defeat and David Shearer's shameful 'we need to appeal to white men' performance after Cunliffe stood down didn't help.
The last minute entry by Nanaia Mahuta has saved the primary and perhaps the Party itself. Her stellar performance to date at the meetings held up and down the country has reminded Labour and NZ that there is a new generation of strong, proud Maori leaders slowly processing their way through the never retiring Labour Party hierarchy.
There's so much dead wood on the Labour Party front bench you could rebuild Christchurch twice.
Mahuta has made the point that Labour picked up with Maori voters, Pacific Island voters and poor voters, so why shouldn't their concerns lead their Party? More pale, stale pakeha faces don't represent the multicultural future reality that NZ is becoming.
The criticism that Labour are too bound to 'special interests' and that Mahuta's candidacy represents that negative stereotype needs to be challenged. The real 'special interest' Party is the National Party with their special interests for dairy, corporations and Sky City. When people use 'special interests' when discussing Labour, they are using code for 'Maori, Women, Pacific Islanders and Gays', there's another way of referring to that group, 'the democratic majority'.
Mahuta has shown courage, determination, wit and real leadership in her candidacy performances. If the membership warm to her, she could be a surprise late performer and it could be Parker who gets wiped out in the first round. Where his preferences go could be the decider.
If Mahuta wins, the question then becomes, is NZ ready for a Maori Prime Minister?
Martyn Bradbury
Editor – TheDailyBlog.co.nz
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