October 25, 2022
Moko Tepania election defies odds
Te Rarawa chair Haami Piripi says the election of a Māori mayor for the far north is absolutely amazing in an area that voted overwhelmingly against Māori wards.
He puts Moko Tepania’s win down to overwhelming Maori support and his Team Tepania campaign, but enough pakeha also believed the Kaihohe kura kaupapa teacher has what it takes to lead the north.
“I always thought we were one of the more redneck electorates in the country because when we had our referendum for Maori wards we only got 16 percent, and I though we may as well not have had the vote,”Mr Piripi says.
He says as a councillor Moko Tepania was instrumental in getting the council to create a Maori ward, guaranteeing at least four Maori councillors.