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Download AudioA Lower Hutt Māori community leader says government hasn’t been doing a good job in ensuring Māori are ready for the election.
Waiwhetū Marae manager Peggy Luke says a lot of resource are produced in the form of pamphlets and advertising, but it doesn’t seem to resonate with young Māori.
She says the marae took it on to sign up people once she realised many weren’t on the rolls.
“It was just in passing saying ‘who are you going to vote for this year? “They go ‘I’m not because I haven’t registered, I don’t know what to do or where to go.’ ‘It’s on tv.’ ‘Yeah, and I don’t have a phone, the post office, they closed the one in Petone, there’s only one in the Hutt,” Ms Luke says.
Ms Luke says because the Wellington are is split between three Māori electorates, many people don’t feel a connection to the choice of candidates on offer in their particular rohe.
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