Labour Maori irked by Tamihere exclusion

The chair of Labour’s Kaunihera Māori says members need to feel they can vote for who they want in the Auckland mayor race.

Rudy Taylor says the kaunihera was unhappy with the way the party’s ruling council reached its decision to endorse Phil Goff for the Auckland mayoralty, even before he had confirmed he was standing again.

At a later meeting the council refused to renew the membership of Mr Goff’s opponent, John Tamihere.

Mr Taylor says he has longstanding friendships with both men and feels Mr Tamihere’s service to the party isn’t being taken into account.

"We’ve got two MPs in the Government that come into his rohe. Now JT has given human resources, given resources to help our Māori MPs and he has been a good contributor. These two candidates standing for mayor have both been Labour people and at the same time the party has also got to acknowledge the Kaunihera Māori can't be taken for granted," he says.

Mr Taylor says the controversy has sparked discussions among Māori members about what they need to do to have more sway at council level.

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