This is a question that has come up one or two times since announcing my running for NPDC (New Plymouth District Council) so I wanted to speak to it directly. That question being:
Why are you not contesting the Māori Ward seat?
To answer this question adequately, you'll need to read my previous blog / rant entry: Why me?
Firstly, you need to understand that like, many others - I was heavily invested into the establishment of the Māori Ward seats nationally. It was equally one of the hardest times of my life but also one of the most rewarding. Changing public perceptions of Māori in governance and educating the public on the place of Te Tiriti within Aotearoa society was something I never thought I'd see myself being a part of. During the tail end of this battle we also got to bare witness to the resurgence of Te Pāti Māori within the walls of Parliament which was epic to see.
Naturally, a lot would assume that because of my heavy public support for the seat alongside the fact that I am Māori myself, that I would throw my name in the hat to contest the Māori ward seat.
There were reports by mainstream media reporting that Māori Wards seats weren't being contested enough (whatever the f*ck that means) however they seem to have backflipped on that notion recently. What a lot of people may not be aware of though was that there was a lot of dialogue taking place amongst Māori locally about who should run for the Māori Ward seat. Amazingly, a lot of the politics and decision making process was taken care of before names were submitted for the ballot box.
So then lets circle back to the original question: Why did I not contest the Māori Ward seat? When you consider all the context I've given, especially the blog / rant I wrote titled: Why me? - It's easy to see that I would have been limiting my voters to only being on the Māori roll when a large number of my supporters are likely on the general roll. Couple this with the conversations and decisions that were made pre-campaigning time, it made more sense for me to stand "at large" as opposed to for the Māori Ward seat because it was our best chance to allow all my supporters to get behind me whilst maximising the opportunity to have 3 Māori within New Plymouth District Council.
This approach is particularly hard to understand if your knowledge of Te Ao Māori is very limited, in which case - I'd recommend contacting me via email or our contact page.
Regardless, the two candidates who are running for the Te Purutanga Mauri Pūmanawa (Māori ward) have proven track records of being for the people of the area. Their support is solid and they both have ambitions to make a huge difference within the New Plymouth community and I look forward to sitting alongside one of them at the table come October.
That's the go.
That's the story.
That's us!