June 21, 2021
Dated speech does Peters no credit
Former Alliance and Mana Motuhake leader Sandra Lee says if Winston Peters thinks attacking Maori is his path back to parliament, he’s dreaming.
She says Mr Peters' speech to the New Zealand First annual meeting on Sunday was so out of date he was still banging on Sir John Key, who left politics in 2016.
The speech included attacks on Māori wards, Māori names on government departments, the use of the name Aotearoa and on the notion of indigenous rights, but failed to mention the state of Māori health, homelessness or poverty.
She says times have changed.
"Although even Judith Collins knows there is a bit of that race vote out there to be had for politicians Winston as a Māori leader should know better and if he thinks that in 2021 that is a way for him to get back into parliament, he's dreaming," Ms Lee says.
She says instead of undermining his own mana and that of the Māori politicians around him, Winston Peters should use his elder statesman role to fight for Māori.
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