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The Maori Party’s Tamaki Makaurau candidate says homelessness has emerged as a major issue this election.
Shane Taurima says spending time during the campaign with those sleeping rough or in their cars has had a huge emotional effect on him.
This week he took up an invitation to cook a meal for those homeless whanau staying at Te Puea Marae in Mangere.
"These people are our whanau, they're our whanaunga. Some of them come from my tribe. It breaks my heart to know they are in such predicament," he says.
Shane Taurima says as well as the short term fix of finding people housing, there need to be programmes to give the wraparound support that many homeless people need to address other issues such as mental health, alcohol and drug use.
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