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The National Party has announced its party list for the 14 October election, with its two Māori seat candidates well down the list.
Shane Reti, who is trying to regain the Whangarei electorate, is the highest Maori on the list at number 4.
Hamilton West MP Tama Potaka is at 24, and five places behind at 29 is Dale Stephens, who’s running in Christchurch Central which has a 14,000 vote Labour majority.
That’s two places ahead of list MP and Te Tai Hauauru candidate Harete Hipango at 31.
With more than a dozen MPs needing a list position in front of her, and a lot of National-held or winnable sets lower down, Ms Hipango will be lucky to scrape back to parliament.
She was number 21 in the 2020 list, when she was trying to retain her Whanganui seat.
Hinurewa Te Hau, who’s flying the blue flag in Tamaki Makaurau, is at 38.
The other three candidates with whakapapa Maori, Dan Bidois in Northcote, David MacLeod in New Plymouth and James Meager in Rangitata, are at 60, 67 and 69 respectively, but are all in with a chance of winning those seats.
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