September 07, 2023
Peters hangs elite tag on Te Pāti Māori
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says the Māori elite represented by Te Pāti Māori are ignoring the needs of ordinary Māori.
Mr Peters’s definition of elites takes in prominent figure such as Waipareira head and Māori Party president John Tamihere and former Manukau Urban Māori Authority chief executive Willie Jackson turned Labour Party minister Willie Jackson.
He says the elites assert tino rangatiratanga even though they will never be chiefs, and ignore the real needs of Māori to housing, health, education and first world wages.
“If Te Pāti Māori is what everyone says it is, how come they got 1.2 percent of the nationwide vote at the last election and yet Māori in this country’s population are 17 percent of the vote. That automatically says a massive rejection of Te Pāti Māori,” Mr Peters says.
He says in Māori society, loyalty is owed both up and down.