John Tamihere (left) and Willie Jackson when they were RadioLive hosts.
John Tamihere (left) and Willie Jackson when they were RadioLive hosts.
Editorial
THE FACTS
Willie Jackson and John Tamihere are leading the campaigns for Labour and Te Pāti Māori respectively in the Tāmaki Makaurau byelection.
Peeni Henare and Oriini Kaipara are the leading candidates in the byelection, which follows Takutai Moana Tarsh Kemp’s death.
The byelection hinges on engaging disillusioned Māori voters, with Labour focusing on ground efforts and Te Pāti Māori leveraging social media.
The battle for the Māori electorate Tāmaki Makaurau will see two mates go head-to-head.
Willie Jackson will be moving the chess pieces for Labour and John Tamihere will be pulling the strings behind the Te Pāti Māori campaign.
While Labour’s Peeni Henare and former broadcaster Oriini Kaipara, thecontender from Te Pāti Māori, are the two candidates fronting the campaign, the behind-the-scenes jabs and counterstrikes between the two former radio co-hosts is likely to be where the seat will be won.
The byelection was called after the sudden death of Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Moana Tarsh Kemp in July after a battle with kidney disease.
Labour list MP and grandson of Sir James Henare, Peeni Henare.
Henare is a great orator and is considered, along with New Zealand First’s Shane Jones and Te Pāti Māori’s Rawiri Waititi, the best te reo Māori speakers in Parliament.
He comes from distinguished political lineage and won the Tāmaki Makaurau seat in 2014, 2017 and 2020, only to lose it in 2023.
His grandfather Sir James Henare stood for the National Party in five elections between 1946 and 1963 and his father Erima Henare was head of the Māori Language Commission. Henare’s mum Te Hemo Ata Henare was a master weaver and his uncle, Māori activist Dun Mihaka, bared his buttocks to Queen Elizabeth II at Waitangi in 1986.
While Kaipara doesn’t have the same political whakapapa, she can hold her own in the te reo world, having been brought up in the Kura Kaupapa and Wharekura movements.
Former broadcaster Oriini Kaipara.
She was afforded the privilege to go total immersion, unlike many whānau of her parents’ age who were punished for speaking the language.
This byelection will not be one of full-frontal attacks – much to the disappointment of the Government, who would rather see Labour and Te Pāti Māori going toe-to-toe at each other.
The byelection will be won by the party that can tap into the disillusioned among Māori. At the ballot box in 2023, of the 43,755 registered, only 27,038 actually voted.
If Labour is to win, it must call on its strong ground game, door-knocking throughout the electorate and hitting the weekend markets in Avondale, Ōtara, Manukau and Manurewa.
Tāmaki Makaurau has the biggest concentration of Māori in New Zealand. No doubt, Te Pāti Māori will also be on the ground but the party’s edge comes in its multi-platform social media channels, which connect it to the younger cohort.
Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke in Parliament during the debate on the Treaty Principles Bill. Photo / RNZ, Samuel Rillstone
Waikato-Tainui MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke has more than 60,000 Facebook followers and 225,000 on Instagram – far exceeding anything Labour can match.
Depending on how Jackson and Tamihere pull those levers will determine whether Te Pāti Māori keeps six MPs or Labour increases its number from 34 to 35.
