Shane Te Pou (Ngāi Tūhoe) is a commentator, blogger and former Labour Party activist.
OPINION
If the coalition has an agenda, it can be summed up as tax cuts (weren’t those a fizzer?), public service cuts (healthcare today, disability services next) and trying to rollback the place of Māori in Aotearoa.
It’s a classic right-wing play — undermine the state, cut its services, and divide people against one another over race so they don’t wonder about who is pocketing all the money.
Hipkins looked forward to 2040, the 200th anniversary of Te Tiriti, envisaging an Aotearoa made richer by embracing our indigenous culture and the cultures of those who have joined us on these islands.
He said that in 2040, he believes few will even remember the anti-Māori policies of the “one-term Luxon Government”. May it be so, but it’s a long way from here to there. A solid turnout for Hipkins’ speech (which his staff strangely booked for 9am on a winter Saturday) tells me that Labour needs to do more to inspire Māori about its vision for the future.
Hipkins is well meaning and thoughtful, but comes across like an earnest, hard-working Anglican vicar; maybe we are looking for some evangelical excitement as well.
Under the strong leadership of Willie Jackson, Labour’s Māori caucus has licked its wounds after losing six of the seven Māori seats to Te Pāti Māori and it is now a force within the party.
Labour should be targeting talent such as former Newshub newsreader Oriini Kaipara. Photo / Supplied
But if Labour wants to win back those Māori seats, it needs not only its veteran leaders like Jackson, but to give more prominence to its Māori up-and-comers and promote talent such as MPs Arena Williams, Willow Jean Prime, Cushla Tangaere-Manuel and Shanan Halbert, all of whom have impressed.
Outside of Parliament, Labour should have people like Anaru Ryall, Toni Boyton, Oriini Kaipara, Sonny Ngatai, and Far North District Mayor Moko Tepania (for my money, one of the most impressive Māori in local politics) in its sights as possible future Māori seat candidates.
Labour may not have long to wait for its first crack at winning back one of those electorates.
If Kemp decides her health isn’t up to it, or her heart’s not in it, or if Statistics NZ produces a damning report, a Tāmaki Makaurau byelection is on the cards.
Labour will have to decide how it is going to appeal to Māori voters in a way that differentiates it from Te Pāti Māori, but does not exclude working with it after the next election.
The thing is, that isn’t too hard because the issues that matter to Māori are the issues that matter to non-Māori, too. Yes, our culture matters; yes, te reo matters; yes, Te Tiriti matters — but so does having a job, decent pay, affordable housing, access to healthcare, decent education, and a sustainable environment.
Māori are feeling the squeeze of 8.2% unemployment. Like other Kiwis, we’re seeing these over-hyped tax cuts gone before they get here thanks to the charges back on prescriptions, making GPs raise their fees, putting up public transport fares, increasing car registration, and forcing rates up, with many of us facing a rates increase of an eye-watering 20%-plus.
At the end of the day, a strategy to win back Māori voters looks a lot like what’s needed to win back the middle-class voters of all backgrounds who backed Labour in 2017 and 2020, but turned their backs in frustration in 2023 at a government that seemed so wound up in reforms, working groups, and consultation documents that it had lost sight of the challenges whānau were facing.
It’s got to be a solid and focused vision for jobs, homes, education, health, and the environment.
Promise a small number of key deliverables and deliver. Māori, like all Kiwis, are pragmatic people. We get that it’s not possible to change the world or to sort out all its problems — sometimes a smaller, quality agenda delivers better outcomes.
