Listen Now: 
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and members of Labour's Maori caucus will be at Te Papaiouru Marae in Ohinemutu on Friday where new Waiariki MP Tamati Coffey will unveil an advisory council of selected kaumatua to support him on his political journey.
Mr Coffey says the Prime Minister wanted to come the Waiariki to acknowledge the support Maori voters gave Labour in the election.
The Kahui Koeke will be a chance for him to keep his ear to the ground and find out about things before they hit the headlines.
He says people in the electorate are taking a pragmatic approach to his victory.
"Now they realise I'm actually the MP and if they want a hand with their treaty claims or with anything going in in government they have to engage with me. So I've been pleasantly surprised by the phone calls and emails I've been getting from people who, on the campaign trail, weren't very supportive if at all. There's an element of pragmatism in there too where they have had to go 'Tamati's our guy now so we need to swing in behind him," Mr Coffey says.
Among the members of Kahui Koeke is former National list MP Georgine te Heuheu, who's happy to support him as Maori and whanau.
!["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
