'Princess' leads way in foreshore debate

By RUTH BERRY, Political Reporter


When Nanaia Mahuta delivered her maiden speech in Parliament in 1996 she quoted the words of Irish writer George Bernard Shaw.

"Some people see the world as it is and ask 'Why?' Others see the world as it could be and ask 'Why not'."

She continued: "Thirty years ago, who would have thought that Pakeha would accept the need to settle treaty grievances?

"Today, because people asked 'Why not?' the first settlements have been reached."

Nearly eight years later, the same thinking underpins Ms Mahuta's approach to the foreshore and seabed debate - the issue that has thrust the MP on to the national stage.

With Tariana Turia, she has been championed for her stance on the issue by many iwi leaders, as her male colleagues are being pilloried.

Mrs Turia has been in similar places before, but although Ms Mahuta may have supported her, she has remained low-profile.

If the foreshore and seabed issue has seen any MP "come out", it is Ms Mahuta.

She signalled her position from day one when, following the Government's first response, she issued her own press release, leaving the rest of the Government's Maori caucus to argue over how they could express a joint position.

During the past two weeks she has been the MP most willing to publicly state and restate her opposition to the Government's policy.

Her whakapapa links to Tainui royalty have earned her the nickname "the princess".

But until now it has been unclear whether she had the inclination to take the limelight her late father, Sir Robert Mahuta, who led Tainui to sign the first treaty settlement, so frequently did.

Prime Minister Helen Clark is believed to rate her, but more recently begun to wonder if the now third-term MP aspired to greater political heights and responsibilities.

Sir Robert died in 2001 amid bitter power struggles within Tainui.

Troubles remain within the Tainui executive and questions are ongoing about the role royalty should play within it.

Such tensions may help to explain why Ms Mahuta is reluctant to talk about her lineage - although she is also known as one of the most private and insular of the Maori MPs, traits contributing to her nickname.

She is keen to dispel any thought that her name helped to carry her into Parliament, pointing out she was first elected as a list MP - the election when New Zealand First won all the Maori seats - and had to "put in the yards" to win an electorate seat.