September 28, 2022
Tamihere fights back on charity slur
Māori Party president John Tamihere is pushing back on a newspaper story on the funding of his election campaigns.
The New Zealand Herald reports the charities regulator is investigating loans from Te Whānau o Waipareira Trust Group and a sponsorship from the National Urban Māori Authority which went into campaigns for the Auckland mayoralty in 2019 and the 2020 general election.
Mr Tamihere says the Herald is working off what was disclosed in the audited financial statements of those organisations, and there no cover up nor attempt to be covert or dishonest.
He says he’s in talks with Charities Services about the funding, and he’s prepared to test the issues in court.
“No one’s coming to arrest me. No one’s come to lock us up. There is nothing we have done that is contrary to the law,” Mr Tamihere says
He’s asked the New Zealand Herald for a right of reply, and he’s also talking about the issue at 8.30 tonight on the social media platforms of the Maori Party, Waipareira and the National Urban Maori .