March 08, 2024
Wry smile as new MP reclaims Ngata korero
Ikaroa Rawhiti MP Cushla Tangaere-Manuel says she’s proud to return the seat to te-riu o-Waiapū for the first time since Tā Apirana Ngata relinquished the Eastern Maori seat in 1943.
In her maiden speech last night, the Manutuke native said she framed her campaign as the Labour candidate on his whakataukī “e tipu e rea”.
She also slammed as mischief makers those including former ACT MP Muriel Newman who have been touting a 1922 essay by Ngata as the last word on the Treaty of Waitangi.
“His whanau, iwi and Maoridom are concerned by this. But I have it on good authority from the Ngata whanau that Ta Apirana would have offered the offenders a wry smile, tamped down his pipe and got on with winning everyone over to his ultimate cause, as will I,” Ms Tangaere-Manuel says.