Dame Tariana Turia: Why Māori Party is backing John Tamihere

Former Labour MP and Auckland mayoralty hopeful John Tamihere has confirmed he will stand for the Māori Party at this year’s election.Following a tilt at the Auckland mayoralty Tamihere said the last thing he wanted to do was re-enter national politics.However he says he was approached by people asking him to represent them.Tamihere says his policies will unashamedly promote Māori matters, and he is aware that people will throw in his face that he was once a Labour MP.Māori Party co-founder Dame Tariana Turia told The Weekend Collective that Tamihere has the experience and knowledge that would make him a strong MP. She agreed with Tamihere's accusation that Labour's Māori MPs have been missing in action, as there are a number of issues that aren't being addressed."I could almost go through all the state agencies where there are significant issues taking place right now, and it's almost as if someone else is calling the shots, and those Māori MPs are definitely not speaking up."She does not believe that Tamihere's right-wing stance during the Auckland mayoralty will have much of an impact on any future coalition agreements, as they do not view it as a right or left issue. "It doesn't matter who the Government is, the fact of the matter is that none of them have the Maori knowledge to do the right thing for our people at the right time, and our job is to sit alongside of whoever the Government is. "It didn't matter if they were right or left or whatever, our job was to do the very best for our people."She says that she hopes that Māori people have "woken up" over Labour's broken promises.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.