Tamati undecided on future amid ‘deep disappointment’
Māori Party candidate Howie Tamati said he is ‘‘deeply disappointed’ there will be no independent Māori voice in Parliament during the next term.
The Te Tai Hauāruru candidate, based in Taranaki, came up short by 1135 votes in his bid to unseat Labour Party incumbent MP Adrian Rurawhe.
Rurawhe received 8038 votes on election night, to Tamati’s 6903. The Labour Party grabbed 58.1 per cent of the party vote compared to the Maori party’s 14.9 per cent.
The outcome reflected in the Māori Party’s overall vote nationally with all seven Māori electorates won by Labour, including Waiariki, held by party leader and MP, Te Ururoa Flavell.
Before the election Tamati was being touted as a possible kingmaker in a new Government.
He said he had given no thought to the future of the Māori Party, which now has no representation in Parliament.
‘‘The results showed our people have gone back to Labour and it is deeply disappointing that all Māori seats are in Labour hands,’’ he said.
Unless Labour can form a coalition government, Māori would be in opposition for another three years, he said.
‘‘The Māori Labour MPs have no opportunity to do anything if they are in opposition.
‘‘But if that’s what our people wanted then that’s what they got.’’
Māori Party MPs would have been able to continue working with a National Government if they had been elected, he said.
‘‘The Māori Party had sent a strong message it was committed to having an independent voice in Parliament.
‘‘If no one is advocating for Māori, then who will?’’
Tamati said Winston Peters would have a fight on his hands from many Māori if he was able to follow through with his preelection promises to abolish Māori electorates and remove the Treaty of Waitangi references from resource consents.
‘‘We will see what Winston’s bottom lines are and if he still wanted to push through his policies on the Treaty and Māori electorates, I think you will see some very unhappy people.
‘‘But that’s a lesson they will learn.’’
Tamati said he would return to his role as Sport Taranaki chief executive after three months’ leave.
He had enjoyed the campaign, he said. Ma¯ ori were a ‘‘politically savvy’’ group but the participation did not always translate to votes on election day, he said.
‘‘It’s been a fantastic campaign. My wife and I decided we would enjoy ourselves.
‘‘We just went around and got into the debates.
‘‘I learnt a lot and it reinvigorated me, and got me out of my comfort zone.
‘‘I began to appreciate the little things more.’’
Tamati spent election night with supporters at Mururaupatu Marae, Bell Block, near New Plymouth, watching results come in.
The mood was buoyant during the night with singing and music but reality began to kick in around late evening with 40 per cent of votes counted. ‘‘I know I have done my best and my team have done their best to win.’’
Tamati said he had never been in an election race before and it was all new to him.
‘‘I can’t tackle anyone, I can’t run past anyone, I can’t score a try, I’ve just got to sit back and let the spectators make the decision,’’ he said.
The former Kiwi rugby league representative, and NZ Rugby League president, with Ngati Mutunga, Te Atiawa, and Ngai Tahu iwi affiliation was hoping to win the seat back from Labour after 2014.
Māori Party leader Dame Tariana Turia had held Te Tai Hāuauru from 2004 until she retired in 2014, and had held the seat for Labour between 1996-2004.
The large electorate included iwi from Taranaki, Whanganui, Horowhenua, Manawatu, the Kapiti Coast and Porirua, along with Ngati Raukawa and Ngati Maniapoto.
Tamati polled ahead of Rurawhe, of Ngati Apa, who was party spokesman on Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, in the lead up to the election.
Tamati had spoken on the campaign that many party members had been awoken after they had ‘‘gone to sleep’’ since Dame Tariana had held the seat. ’’We don’t have to do what National says, we don’t have to do what Labour says, we do what we think is right for our people,’’ he said.