Che Wilson encouraged by support for Māori Party as new president

Che Wilson was elected president of the Maori Party in Rotorua on February 17. Photo / Rotorua Daily Post

The Māori Party's new president is excited and encouraged by people contacting him to say they now want to return to it.

Che Wilson has strong connections with Ruapehu's Ngāti Rangi iwi. He became the party's president on February 17 at its annual general meeting. He follows former presidents Whatarangi Winiata, Pem Bird, Naida Glavish and Tuku Morgan.

His deputies are to be former MP Te Ururoa Flavell and Kapua Smith, who has links to Kauangaroa Marae in the Whangaehu Valley.

The Māori Party got just 1.2 per cent of the party vote in the 2017 election, which Mr Wilson said disappointed many, even people who were not its supporters.

The defeat is an opportunity to refresh, review and reconnect with members. He said the party would analyse its performance and listen to its members in a travelling roadshow soon to take place.

Then it will plan for the next five elections - 15 years out.

Mr Wilson has been a member and active supporter of the party since 2004. He said becoming president was a chance to be more active and get the party back into Parliament.

He has to tidy up the membership database, which he said was well over the minimum threshold, and come up with polices and funding before the next election.

The Māori Party needs to be a "centre" party, he said, able to ally with others across the political spectrum, including small parties.

"The media has tried to say that we are a party of the left and tried to promote that Māori are only of the left, whereas Māori are just as diverse as Pākehā," he said.

All political parties are adjusting to the "Jacindamania" phenomenon, and there is a wider spectrum of interests in the current Parliament. The country hasn't used MMP to its full potential yet, Mr Wilson said.

"It's going to be a good challenge for New Zealand to understand how that works for us going forward."

Mr Wilson has held a lot of national and international positions, as well as some in Ngāti Rangi. His last job was in the Ministry for the Environment, but he didn't like the bureaucracy.

He's now living in Hamilton and his wife is from a Waikato iwi. He's working as a self-employed consultant doing strategic planning, facilitation and management coaching and mentoring.

His daughter has been accepted at Te Kōpuku High, an established charter school where the uniform is anything denim and the day begins with karakia and exercise or self-directed study.

"Current education has never supported Māori and people on the fringes," he said.

He's critical of the Labour-led Government's decision not to allow more charter schools.

"There's more evidence out there of the failure of the current system than there is of anything else, and we choose to ignore it because we are scared as a nation of doing anything different."