July 31, 2020
No time to rest as Māori Party eyes Labour-held seats
Labour’s Māori campaign coordinator Willie Jackson says there is no room for complacency.
The party kicks off its campaign for the seven Māori seats on Sunday at Ngā Whare Waatea Marae in south Auckland, whose motorway fence features not just signs for Tāmaki Makaurau MP Peeni Henare but an over-sized billboard for Māori party rival John Tamihere.
Mr Jackson says challenges in all seats are being taken seriously
"There is not one inch of complacency, not from the Māori seat MPs, not from Labour. The polls can say whatever they say but history tells us these elections can be close and nothing should be taken for granted but we have to get on with the business so any complacency or apathy is the last thing you will see from Māori MPs and Labour in general," he says.
Willie Jackson says he’s disappointed National MP Nick Smith blocked a move to allow voters to switch between the general and Māori electoral rolls at any time, rather than just in the five-yearly post-census Māori option – a change that has been recommended by the Electoral Commission after the last election, when 19,000 voters were refused permission to switch.
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