March 22, 2023
Co-governance bogey fails to fire voters
Despite the best efforts of Opposition parties, Maori Development Minister Willie Jackson says co-governance doesn’t rate highly among voter concerns.
Mr Jackson, who is again running Labour’s campaign for the Maori seats, says the cost of living, housing, education and health are the main things that concern both Maori and pakeha voters.
“It’s blown up a lot by the right, by the Opposition who see this as the big Maori takeover, you particularly hear that from ACT and (David) Seymour, but co-governance has been intact for decades now and works really well,” he says.
Mr Jackson says Labour is not going to force people into co-governance agreements but if organisations want to partner with Maori they won’t be discouraged.