Brian Tamaki's political involvement in 2020 election would bolster his rival's campaign bank account, Kelvin Davis says

Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says any involvement in a challenge to the Te Tai Tokerau electorate by Destiny Church Leader Brian Tamaki's would only bolster Davis' own support.

Labour's Deputy Leader Kelvin Davis appears to be relishing Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki's suggestion that he and Hone Harawira may challenge him for the Te Tai Tokerau electorate.

"When someone like him says he's going to run a candidate against me, my campaign bank account flourishes," Davis told media this morning.

This comes after Tamaki told Q&A last night that he may consider going back into politics if not enough was done to address the high number of Māori in prison.

"Maybe I'll have to ring my mate Hone Harawira up in the North and say brother, we might have to take this electorate."

He would not go into much more detail but said the move would be more likely if "we don't get any action" when it comes to seeing Māori families suffer.

This comes after clashes between Tamaki and ministers over his church's Man Up programme being used in prisons.

Asked what he made of Tamaki's comments on Q&A, Davis this morning said his "campaign bank account thanks him".

He said it would be the "greatest thing ever" for support when it comes to re-election next year.

Mana Movement leader Hone Harawira used to be the electorate MP for Te Tai Tokerau, but lost the seat to Davis in the 2014 election.

Harawira has been critical of Davis since he became a minister, saying he had done nothing to address the high rate of incarceration for Māori in his time as Corrections Minister.

He has also thrown his support behind the Man Up programme and criticised senior Government ministers for their comments on the issue.

"It's one thing to say Man Up is a great programme or Man Up is a rat shit programme, but they're not saying that at all. They're just saying 'Brian Tamaki, he's a self-appointed bishop. He tithes people and he's got a Harley Davidson, his wife's got a flash car, he says anti-gay things'.

"Kelvin's issues about Brian Tamaki and the Man Up programme have been all about attacking Brian Tamaki, not about the effectiveness of the programme."

Harawira has been approached for comment.