PM will come calling, says Turia

By HELEN TUNNAH

Tariana Turia predicts the Prime Minister will be quickly on the telephone if her new Maori Party achieves a clean sweep of the seven Maori seats at next year's general election.

Mrs Turia yesterday returned to Parliament after being re-elected on Saturday and was presented with hundreds of submissions opposing Labour's seabed and foreshore legislation, which prompted her to quit the Government in May.

Her remarks came as another day passed without the two leaders and former colleagues talking about whether the Maori Party will support Labour in office, and as supporters increased pressure on Tainui MP Nanaia Mahuta.

She has said she will not be leaving Labour, despite Tainui board co-chairman Tuku Morgan's predictions that several Waikato iwi would review their support of her if she stayed with Labour.

Helen Clark has sought to avoid a public scrap with Mrs Turia, who has accused her of showing little respect by not seeking leader-to-leader talks over whether the Maori Party will support Labour in government.

Mrs Turia said yesterday that Labour did not seem to want the Maori Party's support, so at the moment her vote would be offered on a case-by-case basis.

She made it clear she did not think she should hold talks on supporting the Government with anyone other than Helen Clark - after refusing a meeting with Labour's senior whip - but said she had not asked to see the Prime Minister.

"I don't know whether I should be making the approach or she should be making the approach.

"It's clear that they need my vote more than I need them at this stage."

Without Mrs Turia's support, Helen Clark can count on 61 votes in the 120-MP Parliament on important confidence and supply decisions, because of the support of the Progressives and United Future.

But Mrs Turia said Helen Clark should also consider how Parliament could look after the general election, when the Maori Party might have more than a single MP.

"We'll see in the next election when we win the seven Maori seats. I'm quite sure the Prime Minister will want to talk then."

Mrs Turia was back in Wellington for the first time since being re-elected to Parliament on Saturday in an overwhelming Te Tai Hauauru byelection win.

On the final day for the public to present Foreshore and Seabed Bill submissions, she received boxes of forms said by supporter Ken Mair to include between 1500 and 2000 individual submissions.

"They'll be sending a very strong message regarding our people's right to due process and justice that's been denied them," Mrs Turia said. "It's only really in times of war that you expect to have a [land] confiscation."

Mrs Turia said she would not be putting any pressure on Ms Mahuta to join her party.

Yesterday the Tainui MP confirmed she would seek Labour's nomination for the next election.

Although she crossed the floor in May to vote against the Labour bill, Ms Mahuta then chose not to join Mrs Turia in quitting Labour, instead putting the party "on notice" that it should never again take Tainui's support for granted.

Mr Morgan claimed at the Maori Party's launch in Wanganui that several iwi would cut their support to Labour, but Helen Clark yesterday dismissed that.

"His comments come from completely out of left-field." she said.

Tainui board co-chair Haydn Solomon said he was "aghast" at Mr Morgan's comments, and that the Tainui waka confederation supported Ms Mahuta.