Election 2023: Meka Whaitiri battles history in Ikaroa-Rāwhiti vote

Hawke’s Bay-based party-hopping decade-long MP Meka Whaitiri’s hopes of continuance in Parliament cling to a thread according to a poll undertaken for TV channel Whakaata Māori.

The Ikaroa-Rāwhiti Māori electorate poll, unveiled in a debate on Thursday night, shows Whaitiri, elected as a Labour MP in a byelection following the death of Parekura Horomia but having defected to Te Pāti Māori in May, is trailing Labour candidacy successor and former Ngāti Porou East Coast rugby chief executive Cushla Tangaere-Manuel by 8 percentage points.

Cushla Tangaere Manuel (left) and Meka Whaitiri after a recent Ikaroa-Rāwhiti electorate debate at Upper Hutt's Orongomai Marae. Photo / Anneke Smith - RNZ

The poll, conducted by Curia Market Research, was completed on Tuesday and places Tangaere-Manuel at 33 per cent and Whaitiri on 25 per cent, but Whakaata Māori stressed it’s still “anyone’s game”, with 29 per cent of the 500 polled still undecided about who to vote just over three weeks out from polling day on October 14.

Labour was still the preferred party in the electorate at 33 per cent, with support for Te Pāti Māori at 24 per cent, but Te Pāti Māori was gaining ground among younger voters, with 39 per cent from those aged 18–39 years, compared with the age group’s 24 per cent leaning towards Labour.

Poll respondents identified cost of living as their leading issue at 23 per cent, followed by the economy and employment, both on 9 per cent. Males cared about employment whereas females were more concerned with health and housing.

Opposing Tangaere-Manuel and Whaitiri this year in what is just a three-way race is Vision New Zealand and sole male hopeful Ata Tuhakaraina, of Hutt Valley.

Whaitiri’s campaign is a battle against tradition, with Ikaroa-Rāwhiti, stretching from East Cape to Hutt Valley having had a Labour MP all 24 years since electorates revision in 1999. Māori electorates serving Hawke’s Bay have had Labour Party MPs for all but three of the past 80 years.

The region has been a part of Māori electorates since they were introduced in 1868, 15 years after New Zealand’s first General Election. Hawke’s Bay was initially part of Eastern Māori, for which the first MP was Ngāti Kahungunu chief Tareha Te Moananui, who became the first Māori to speak in Parliament.

The electorate turned Labour in 1943 after the near 40 years’ service of Liberal, United and then National MP Apirana Ngata, and in 1954 Hawke’s Bay was included in the expanded Southern Māori electorate, including all the South Island, during the term of 1935-1967 Labour MP Eruera Tirakatene-Sullivan.

Hawke’s Bay Māori have had a Labour MP for all but one three-year term since, in the three electorate identities of Southern Maori (until 1996), Te Puku o Te Whenua (1996-1999) and Ikaroa-Rāwhiti (since 1999).

The succeeding MPs have been Whetu Tirakatene-Sullivan (Labour 1967-1996), Rana Waitai (New Zealand First, 1996-1999), Horomia (1999-2013) and Whaitiri.

At the last election in 2020, Whaitiri, as Labour candidate and incumbent MP, claimed almost 56 per cent of the 25,371 eligible votes in a six-way race. The runner-up was Māori Party candidate Heather Te Au Skipworth, who got almost 31 per cent and who was to have stood again this year, until Whaitiri became available.

The debate was the second in a series featuring each of the seven Māori electorates, from Whakaata Maori’s new studio, Hawaikirangi, in East Tāmaki.

The first debate was for Te Tai Hauauru (western North Island, including Taranaki, Whanganui, and Manawatū) and the next is on Tuesday for Te Tai Tonga (the South Island and parts of Wellington).

Next Thursday it will be the turn of Waiariki (Taupō and Bay of Plenty), Hauraki-Waikato will feature on October 3, the October 5 debate will feature candidates in Te Tai Tokerau (Northland and parts of West Auckland), and Auckland electorate Tāmaki Makaurau will complete the round four days before election day.

An Ikaroa-Rāwhiti Meet the Candidates night, staged by Hawke’s Bay Today, will be held next Wednesday at Karamū High School, Hastings, with doors opening at 6.15pm. It will feature all three candidates for the seat.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 50 years of journalism experience in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.