Summarised by Centrist
Labour MP Willie Jackson says Te Pāti Māori needs to drop the grandstanding and focus on what matters:
“When I’m out there, nobody says they’re upset about tikanga in Parliament. They say: it’s really tough, we can’t build homes, it’s hard in the health area, we can’t get jobs. That has to be the priority.”
Jackson warned the party that performative protests won’t deliver results. He said compromise is part of being in Parliament and “With respect – not the haka.”
He told Q+A “There’s nothing wrong with saying sorry.”
“I don’t want a war with the Māori Party,” Jackson said. “But not every single Māori in the country supports you and they don’t support some of the strategy. They love you – I love you – but some of the stuff is not going down well.”
Kiri Tamihere-Waititi, the partner of co-leader Rawiri Waititi and daughter of the party’s president, accused Jackson and fellow Labour MP Adrian Rurawhe of appeasing Pākehā.
The clash follows the suspension of three Te Pāti Māori MPs for breaching parliamentary rules with a disruptive haka and physical confrontation during a Treaty vote.
Te Pāti Māori claims the sanctions were colonial repression.
Rurawhe backed Jackson up, saying Te Pāti Māori can’t have it both ways: “They agreed to the rules when they came in. They can use Parliament to change them — but they need to work within the system.”
Read more over at The NZ Herald
