May 30, 2022
Mahuta attack fails to prove link
Former MP John Tamihere says a New Zealand Herald story linking Minister Nanaia Mahuta to government appointments of family members was a disgrace to the newspaper.
The Herald picked up on allegations made earlier in the month on a Twitter account in the name of Thomas Cramner about a Ms Mahuta’s partner, environmental consultant Gannin Ormsby, getting a small contract with the Environment Ministry, and her sister Tipa Mahuta’s appointment to the Māori advisory group for the Three Waters reforms.
Mr Tamihere says the framing seemed to be that if Māori were involved something must be wrong while ignoring the far more extensive connections between wealthy pakeha families and professionals with the government.
“It’s got fix its game up and it’s got to get more integrity and credibility and start calling out its own white folk for conflicts of interest and corruption rather than focusing on just Māori because there’s no evidence Nanaia had any connectivity to any of those decisions. It was just a dirty little allegation,” he says.