March 03, 2020
DHB time forges IronMaori head into political contender
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The Māori Party's Ikaroa-Rāwhiti candidate says she had to develop a thick skin before putting her name up for selection.
Heather Te Au-Skipworth will take on Labour's Meka Whaitiri in the September 19 election.
She says it was not her experience starting and running the IronMāori competition that counted most but the two terms she has spent on the Hawke's Bay District Health Board.
"I put myself in political spaces so I've had to grow, I've had to defend, I've been challenged and I think back then I just wasn't ready. I'm absolutely ready now. That's not to say it won't be a hard challenge but I've had to learn about this political space," she says.
Being on the DHB has given her new insights into how structural racism works, such as the way Māori patients aren't offered the same treatment options as their Pākehā counterparts.
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