Flavell: Cunliffe may have shot himself in foot

Maori Party co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell says there is no done deal between his party and National, and Labour leader David Cunliffe may have done himself out of a chance of becoming Prime Minister by ruling the Maori Party out.

In a bid to blunt Prime Minister John Key's depiction of a future Labour-led government as unstable because of the number of parties it would require, Mr Cunliffe said yesterday he would keep any formal governing arrangement between only three parties -- New Zealand First, the Greens and Labour.

Asked if he was now ruling out the Maori Party, he said he would be happy to talk with them, "I just won't have them in the government".

He said Maori voters needed to know that a vote for the Maori Party was a vote for National, and claimed Mr Flavell's stance on working with both sides was a trick to get Labour-friendly Maori to vote for them.

Mr Flavell said Mr Cunliffe's comments were "surprising and disappointing". The Maori Party had made it clear its position was to work with whoever the main governing party was and, despite their history, National had not necessarily had the edge. "He's going into a panic attack, but on current polling he can't make up the numbers without us."

He said it was up to Mr Cunliffe whether he backtracked on his claim. "They're the ones who need the numbers -- not us. Unfortunately Mr Cunliffe may have shot himself in the foot with respect to the Maori Party."

Mr Flavell said he would still be guided by what Maori told the party to do "but our people want us to be influential, not subservient".

Mr Cunliffe's stand on the Maori Party could have been an attempt to bolster Labour's efforts at winning back the Maori seats while also helping lure NZ First leader Winston Peters in. Mr Peters has said he would not work with race-based parties.

However, Mr Peters appeared to be unimpressed with Mr Cunliffe's comments, saying there was no deal with Labour or any other party.

"You know full well that no one speaks for NZ First but NZ First. I'm not going to let you think there's any coalition arrangement, so to write anything else is deliberately deceptive."

Mr Peters has refused to state a preference and could opt to sit on the cross benches. Mr Cunliffe said it was up to Mr Peters to make his decisions, but he believed they could work together well.

In Maori TV's Reid Research polls on the Maori electorates, about two-thirds of respondents have supported a coalition with Labour over National.

Maori Party president Naida Glavish said Maori voters needed to know that Labour had rejected the Maori Party, not vice versa.

"Whatever deal Mr Cunliffe has done with NZ First and the Greens, we believe his first call should be to respect the wishes of voters on 20 September. Casting us in the role of political enemy is neither helpful nor constructive at this point of the electoral cycle."