October 07, 2020
Procurement radical step for Labour
Labour’s Māori seat campaign coordinator says the party’s embrace of a procurement programme for Māori and Pasifika is a huge advance.
Willie Jackson and other members of the Māori caucus were in Waiariki yesterday to support candidate Tamati Coffey, who is facing an energetic challenge from the Maori Party’s Rawiri Waititi.
He says while the Māori Party can promise big, such as its call for 25 percent of government spending to go to Māori suppliers, it doesn’t need to consider other groups in society or to come up with credible costings.
He says Labour's commitment to procurement contrasts with its previous terms in Government where it dropped its Closing the Gaps policy after pressure form National.
"We have got it across the line and that is incredible a mainstream party is embracing that. Those should be seen as successes and I think our meeting in Rotorua particularly endorsed that," Mr Jackson says
The MPs were challenged at their hui at Whareroa Marae in Mount Maunganui about the pollution from neighbouring industry affecting whānau, which Mr Jackson says is a matter Local Government and Māori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta has been working on.
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