Listen Now: 
Metiria Turei says the Green Party has stepped up to a challenge to increase its contacts with the Ratana movement.
The wero was laid down at last year's Ratana hui, and the Green leadership responded by meeting with the executive on October and attending the church's main religious celebration in November.
Ms Turei says it was great to be back on the pa yesterday with co-leader James Shaw, as Maori are an important part of the Green stategy for this year's election.
"There was a genuine conversation happening yesterday about the role of Ratana and the strength of community. There are more than 100,000 morehu around the country. It is a big movement and I think they are reasserting themselves and demanding more from us, the top politicians who go there every year to respect the prophet's birthday so I think that is real and i think that assertion of their mana has been really good," she says.
Ms Turei says the attack on Winston Peters by Opportunities Party founder Gareth Morgan during the powhiri was a clear case of pissing in the wind.
FULL INTERVIEW WITH METIRIA TUREI
!["p_facebook"]("/site/uma/images/story_img/facebook.jpg")
& !["p_twitter"]("/site/uma/images/story_img/twitter.jpg")
Copyright © 2017, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
RELATED NEWS
