Morgan's occupation: opportunist

Gareth Morgan at Te Tii Marae.

Prominent businessman and The Opportunities Party (TOP) founder Gareth Morgan says he will have Northland firmly in his sights when he finalises his party's plans for tax and welfare reform.

Mr Morgan was welcomed on to Te Tii Marae on Sunday as part of the lead-up to Waitangi Day, along with members of the Labour and Green parties.

Asked whether he had any policies directed specifically at Northland, Mr Morgan said poverty was one the biggest issues his party wanted to address, and Northland was "the home of poverty".

"It's a terrible thing to say, and it upsets me, but the statistics don't lie," he said.

Poverty would be addressed in the party's plans for tax and welfare reform, which he hoped to finalise in the next few weeks.

"We haven't released our policy on that yet, but it's coming, and it will be quite Northland-centric. So, yes, we have our eye on Northland," he said.

He did not yet know if the party would stand candidates in Northland. Once nominations opened in March or April the party would see who put their names forward.

If quality candidates with community support wanted to stand in Northland it would be a "no-brainer." He himself would stand on the party list.

Other policies the party espoused included encoding the Treaty of Waitangi in a constitution, the teaching of civics in schools, and better education about what the Treaty actually meant. Mr Morgan also wanted all children to be bilingual.

"I think that's just critical," he said.