June 22, 2021
Aotearoa Tuatahi looking everywhere for votes
Former New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is dismissing criticism the party is trying to win back its place in parliament through attacks on Māori.
Leader Winston Peters’ speech to the annual conference on Sunday included an extended rant over the use of Māori names for government agencies and reports on the increased use of Aotearoa as a substitute for New Zealand.
Mr Jones says the party can stand on its record of delivery of real benefits to Māori through the Provincial Growth Fund and other initiatives during the times it has been in Government.
"Look, where are our whānau? They're not in the papakainga any longer, they're in motels. Where are they in terms of training? Where are they in terms of key social indicators? Really that's what motivates me to come into politics. Naturally, I'm a great supporter of te reo. It was Winston who originally funded kapa haka. Now you might say it makes us somewhat Janus-like, looking in two ways at one time. However, that's what politics is about," he says.
Mr Jones says the concern over the use of te reo Māori is valid, and organisations like the Climate Change Commission, which calls itself He Pou a Rangi or the celestial pillar, need to come back to earth.
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