Headstrong Fox carves her own path

Marama Fox

Marama Fox will today take over from Tariana Turia as the Maori Party co-leader and the first thing both would admit to having in common is that they can be headstrong.

Yesterday the mother of nine called for a new national anthem to replace God Defend New Zealand. In her first fortnight in Parliament she has taken issue with the Parliamentary oath, voted for fellow Wairarapan NZ First's Ron Mark over David Carter as Speaker and almost voted no-confidence in the Government.

The near-miss on the vote of no-confidence was the result of a muddle while casting the Maori Party votes in Parliament. She quickly tweeted a mea culpa, saying she was on a steep learning curve.

Ms Turia will step down today at the party's AGM in her hometown of Whanganui.

For Ms Fox, being co-leader will have practical benefits, including allowing her to sit in on the regular meetings the Maori Party leaders have with National's leadership team.

She says she does not intend to try to be like Turia. " If people expect me to be the new Tariana, you're setting yourself up to fail because she was amazing. I need to carve my own path."

Ms Fox does not swear or blaspheme. Her cuss word is "jingoes". "I'm a badge- wearing Mormon, so we don't do the JC word. We do jingoes."

But she has strong views and is not afraid to voice them. Ms Turia has been described as stubborn and Ms Fox is too. One is a suggestion of a new national anthem, saying New Zealand's was not as stirring as other countries. To illustrate she belts out Advance Australia Fair "and we hate it because we hear it so often, but don't they love it?"

NZME.