Tariana Turia: I'm proud our party stands for progress

To say we were disappointed with the outcome of the Te Tai Tokerau by-election is an understatement.
There was a very poor turnout - fewer than one in three voters showed up at the booths - which leaves the question of mandate still hanging. One could think of many better outcomes from close to a million dollars to fund someone to be back for 21 sitting days until we break for the general election!
The most damaging aspect of this past month has been the promulgation of myths of such magnitude that we end up fighting the politics of perception. A fight it is always hard to win unless you have the media on your side.
My biggest disappointment has been the allegation that the Maori Party treated Hone badly. Hone even stated on Sunday TV that our campaign was to kill him off! To the contrary, we spent five years in hui with Hone, going up to the North to talk with his elders, going to hui with his electorate, long caucus meetings where we would thrash out the issues in an attempt to work together as a team. Ultimately, it fell apart and we had to agree to go our different ways. It is simply not true to imply the fault is all one way. The language is emotive, it paints a picture which is entirely negative, and it is so de-energising.
But another view is that complacency can be our own worst enemy. None of us can afford to sit and watch the pot boil. We must liberate ourselves from conversations which do not serve to advance the wellbeing of our people, and re-mobilise the movement forward that I know whanau seek.
Like our whanau today, our tupuna had clear aspirations for our iwi. They wanted us to have Influence With Integrity (IWI). I am proud that this is what the Maori Party stands unashamedly for.
We are at a vital juncture in our political history. I have no energy for talk that portrays Maori as the victims of ill-doing; of being continually described as the poor and dispossessed. We have a responsibility to move forward, to take our people with us, and to restore a sense of wonder that each of us has the potential for transformation.
During the campaign, Solomon shared an intimate story of a man he'd met in hospital who overheard him giving a radio interview. When Solomon finished his korero, the man followed him out of the room, cried on his shoulder and thanked him for giving him hope. That man had been suicidal. In just that brief time listening to Solomon, he found a sense of optimism through the ideas he talked about. It is moments like that which remind me that even if we improve the situation of one person, our journey has been worth it.
Noam Chomsky once said: "Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, you are unlikely to step up and take responsibility for making it so."
We need to move on from the negativity that has characterised this campaign and work to achieve the sense of optimism that we can do for ourselves, that we are the architects and designers of our own destiny. We owe it to ourselves, we owe it to the next generation to pave a positive pathway ahead.