Tide turning, Waititi says after holding onto seat
Te Pā ti Mā ori co-leader increased majority
Te Pā ti Mā ori co-leader Rawiri Waititi has claimed victory in Waiariki, telling the crowd “there is a tide turning” amid a surge of support for the party. Arriving at the Sudima Hotel in Rotorua about 9pm on Saturday, Waititi addressed the party faithful.
“There’s a tide turning, just with that I’m really excited of that regardless of the results.
“Our people are believing in themselves,” he said.
He acknowledged the party’s Rotorua electorate candidate, Merepeka Raukawa-Tait “for putting her hand out . . . her courage and her whānau.”
He thanked the Waiariki electorate “for giving me your support for the next three years”.
“We will welcome you, we will house you, we will feed you . . . our party policy is all about that.”
He thanked his whānau, wife, babies, brothers and sisters who were “there when the time gets rough and the dark times when the sun is shining and I’m not home”.
“We want to ensure we have a strong voice for our people. Look at ourselves and we have built a movement . . . we will continue to build a movement.”
He thanked those who had contributed to the campaign: “They have given us our taonga to fly”.
The crowd responded to his speech with a waiata about being proud to be Māori.
Waititi first won the seat in 2020 with a tight margin over Labour’s Tamati Coffey, but on Saturday with three-quarters of votes counted he had a margin of more than 9000 over Labour’s Toni Boynton, which would continue to grow.
At Whareroa Marae in Mount Maunganui, Boynton gave credit to Waititi and Vision New Zealand’s candidate for Waiariki, Charles Tiki Hunia, saying they were both her cousins.
As a first-time candidate, Boynton was grateful to her whānau and supporters, saying she was really proud of all the work that had been done on the ground.
“I’m so proud of their efforts.” In Rotorua, vice president wahine Te Pāti Māori Fallyn Flavell said she
had been involved with Te Pā ti Mā ori for over 20 years and was “proud” of the party for gaining more party seats at this year’s election.
She said she was having an “awesome” night and was proud of Raukawa-Tait for “putting her hat in it” during this year’s election.
Shortly after results began rolling in, Te Pā ti Mā ori issued a press release promising to establish a Māori electoral commission after voting issues were reported.
Waititi described the situation as “an absolute shambles”.
The Electoral Commission earlier said an issue with the electronic
version of the electoral roll that caused delays at some voting booths across the country was fixed during voting day.
They also said that accounts online stating Manurewa Marae and Hoani Waititi voting place had run out of ballot papers were false, saying “noone was turned away from voting”.
“A mobile team brought in new supplies to keep them stocked and make sure they didn’t run out.”
The Waiariki electorate covers the Bay of Plenty and Taupō region. Major population areas include Tauranga, Whakatāne, Rotorua and Taupō .
In the 2020 election Waititi had beaten incumbent Coffey by 836 votes, following a three-week wait for the special votes.