October 17, 2018
Māori sidelined in National Party raruraru
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says the Māori composition of Parliament won't be changed by the ructions in the National Party.
Botany MP Jami Lee Ross, who has Ngāti Pōrou whakapapa, is set to quit on Friday and force a by-election, after he was suspended from the party on suspicion of leaking leader Simon Bridges' embarrassing travel expenses.
He's also threatening to give the police information about concealing election donations at Mr Bridges' request.
Mr Peters says as a leader Mr Bridges is a dead man walking, and his show of strength won't help him, nor will any support from Māori.
"Jami Lee Ross and Paula Bennett and Simon Bridges, they discovered their Māori-ness the same way Columbus discovered America, purely by accident. They didn't start talking about that until they got into politics. On the way through and all the things that really matter in life as an apprenticeship and training, no one ever heard that before," he says.
Mr Peters says Jami Lee Ross has a chance of winning Botany as an independent, if the allegations he is making against Simon Bridges prove to be true.
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