Kotahitanga on offer with run for Labour top job

Rudy Taylor @ Waateanews.com

The chair of the Labour Party’s Kaunihera Māori says making Tane Phillips the party president would be a way to emphasise the importance of Māori to Labour’s future.

The Kawerau trade unionist from Ngāi Tuhoe is getting around as many Labour electorate councils as he can to push his claims to the position vacated by Nigel Haworth.

Rudy Taylor says delegates to the party conference in Whanganui in a fortnight need to consider not just his experience as Māori vice-president and his role in winning back Māori seats for Labour but the historical value Māori have brought to the party.

"He understands the values of a party that works together in partnership with Māori and the Labour Party, the spirit of kotahitanga," he says.

Tane Phillips' main competition for the role is Claire Szabo, a party activist and former candidate who currently runs housing charity Habitat for Humanity.

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