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Download AudioThe National Party’s first Māori leader will give his valedictory speech this afternoon.
Simon Bridges is leaving Parliament after 14 years as MP for Tauranga including two as Opposition leader.
He’s expected to take up a role heading the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, replacing long-standing chief executive Michael Barnett.
Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson says his Ngāti Maiapoto tribesman is a reminder of the complex nature of Maori involvement in politics.
“We have to realise that sometimes before we get on our high horses and say it is all about Labour. National are the other major party and Simon Bridges was the leader. We acknowledge that part of history and it is important that some Māori are there to support his leaving Parliament, which I will do,” he says.
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