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Download AudioTe Pāti Maori has marked its 20th birthday with a ceremony at Hoani Waiti Marae in west Auckland where it launched.
President John Tamihere says it was also the birthday of co-founder Ta Pit Sharples, who was at the AGM.
He says it’s one of the most successful modern Indigenous political movements, wining seats in six of the seven elections it has contested.
One in four children under 5 years old is Maori, and nearly one in three New Zealanders under 25 is of Maori descent.
“This nation’s going to go nowhere unless the capacity and capability and potential of Maori is release for the greater common good. If we continue to be oppressed and pushed down and vilified for our language and our culture, of course we have to push back and stand up,” Mr Tamihere says.
The message at the AGM was Te Pati Maori doesn’t need the mainstream media to frame it, because it has its own media channels and influencers.
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