Winiata leaps into election fray for Mana

Jordan Winiata PHOTO/MAORI TELEVISION

The Mana Movement has made a last-minute entry in the Te Tai Hauauru race, naming Jordan Winiata as its candidate.

The Palmerston North man had given little thought to having a tilt at central government politics until shoulder tapped to stand in the seat about 10 days ago. Mr Winiata has been a member of the Mana Movement since its inception.

"My main drive is to get the party vote," Mr Winiata said.

He said Maori "on the ground" such as whanau and hapu needed to have greater influence in decisions, especially during and post-settlement. "I think the hapu and the whanau are the people that know the issues inside out and have the answers."

Mr Winiata said there needed to be a process to hold iwi accountable. "We seem to always work towards the settlement stage and that's the end of it. We have to look beyond the settlement stage."

On the movement's alliance with the Internet Party, he said the two had common ground and wanted a change in government. Both parties had similar tertiary education policies, and ideas on child poverty and employment. Mr Winiata said he wanted to see free tertiary education, and interest and deposit-free home loans, particularly for Maori. "We're saying every person has a right to study in our country and be qualified and skilled."

It was about tackling debt, which was crippling some communities and causing other social problems such as violence, he said. "A lot of it comes because no one's living comfortably. Debt is a big problem for young families.

Mr Winiata said a reform of the tax system would help pay for such schemes and a capital gains tax and financial transactions tax would help.