October 16, 2017
Maori caucus opts for co-leaders
Labour's 13-member Maori caucus has chosen Ikaroa Rawhiti MP Meka Whaitiri and newly-elected list MP Willie Jackson as its co-chairs.
Ms Whatiri says as the largest Maori caucus for any party ever, it contains a wealth of experience and skills, including treaty negotiators, lawyers, broadcasters, te reo exponents and young mothers.
She rejects claims Labour's Maori MPs are subservient to a pakeha hierarchy, and says the caucus has proved effective as a forum to help individual MPs make a real impact in their areas of responsibility.
"If you look across the contribution we made in Opposition in the last three years, it shows you can effect change from the Opposition benches. Of course you can do better if you are an the treasury benches, but with 13 of us, whether we are in or whether we are out, we will have a plan of action that will make a real difference for our people," Ms Whaitiri says.
Copyright © 2017, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com