Broken showers and mince on fry bread cultural divide

Waateanews.com

Te Taitokerau MP Kelvin Davis says most of the young Americans who stayed at Northcote's Awataha Marae were happy with the experience.

Labour has taken a hammering after complaints of woeful accommodation by some of the young people who came over on work visas to volunteer on the Campaign for Change voter engagement programme.

Mr Davis says it seems a couple of them weren't happy with the communal living, or didn't like fry bread and mince for tea.

"Hey that's Maori and I'm really sorry a couple of American teenagers didn't enjoy their marae experience. I'm sorry they didn't enjoy the kai on offer. I'm sorry the shower head may have broken. But hey, welcome to our world. As Maori we're used to this stuff and this is the way we live. For a couple it was a bit too much of a cultural divide to bridge but the majority absolutely loved it," he says.

Mr Davis says it's a long standing practice that people from around the world who share social democratic values come to help on campaigns.

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