June 27, 2017
Community keen to access Awataha
Te Taitokerau MP Kelvin Davis says controversy about the Labour Party-linked Campaign form Change has highlighted that change is needed at Awataha marae.
The Northcote marae provided accommodation for about 80 young people who had come to New Zealand to help efforts to reach people who don’t usually vote.
During their stay Awataha was picketed by Te Raki Paewhenau Maori Committee, whose members say they have been excluded from the 30-year-old marae.
Mr Davis says the governance wrangle needs to get sorted.
"Maori on the North Shore, don't have that marae to go to to have various hui, hui mate, community hui, 21st, 60th, 80th. And I think that's the real issue that needs to be addressed at Awataha Marae and let's sort it out, so that the people of Te Raki Paewhenua have got a marae that they can go to and can identify with and they can call their turangawaewae on the north shore. Even if they come from way up north or way down south. They've got a place to be Maori in Te Raki Paewhenua," says Kelvin Davis.
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