May 04, 2023
Whaitiri abandons constituents to sludge and slash
Former Mana Motuhake and Alliance leader Sandra Lee-Vercoe says Meka Whaitiri’s decision to quit Labour – and her ministerial role overseeing cyclone recovery in Hawke’s Bay – was appalling and selfish.
She says Labour has a bad track record of wasting its Māori talent, but however hard things are for MPs, they are 100 times harder for their constituents.
“Her people, her constituents have never needed her more in the position of power she had when she decided to walk. They are sitting under sludge and slash. The recovery is slow and she as minister had her hands on the lever,” Ms Lee-Vercoe says.
She says the right time for Meka Whaitiri to go would have been when the House rises for the election.