Labour door closed to Māori Party says Tamihere

Peter Verschaffelt Labour door closed to Māori Party says Tamihere

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Māori Party leader John Tamihere says he’s not expecting any deal with Labour over the Māori electorates – or even after the election.

The Māori Party is running a two-tick campaign, rather than trying to win the Māori seats and letting Labour harvest the party vote.

He told Radio Waatea host Dale Husband that when Rawiri Waititi’s win in Waiariki in 2020 brought Te Pati Māori back into parliament, it wrote to the Prime Minister asking to be part of the Government on similar terms to the Greens – but it was denied.

“If they did a relationship with us in terms of us taking the constituency seats, all seven of them,, and party vote Labour, that might be a fair agreement – they’re not prepared to do that. You’re asking me to negotiate things with the Labour Party when they refuse to negotiate anything with the Maori Party,” Mr Tamihere says.

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