He Kawenata ki Waenga i Te Roopu MANA me Te Paati Māori

Written By: - Date published: 5:51 pm, February 20th, 2017 - 54 comments
Categories: election 2017, elections, mana-party, Maori Issues, maori party, Maori seats, MMP, Politics - Tags: ,

Te kawenata (the agreement/PDF),

The Executive of the MANA Movement and the National Executive for Maori Party have the power and authority to act on behalf of their respective parties in entering into this agreement.

Any and all contravening clauses/rules contained within existing party rules / constitutions / ture will be suspended for the duration of this agreement and replaced with the terms contained within this Kawenata and will conclude on September 23, 2017.

PRINCIPLES:

  1. The MANA Movement and the Maori Party recognise the importance of showing unity through diversity and the strength that this arrangement provides for the betterment of the people we serve.
  2. Through mutual respect and a commitment to build on the strengths each party possess, we sign this Kawenata to help us achieve the aspirations of both parties and more importantly Maori.

TERMS:

  1. MANA confirm the decision made at its 2016 AGM, to focus on Te Tai Tokerau at the 2017 General Election, and to not stand candidates in the other 6 Maori seats (Tamaki Makaurau, Hauraki-Waikato, Waiariki, Ikaroa-Rawhiti, Te Tai Hauauru, Te Tai Tonga).
  2. The Maori Party confirm their determination to stand candidates in those 6 Maori seats (Tamaki Makaurau, Hauraki-Waikato, Waiariki, Ikaroa-Rawhiti, Te Tai Hauauru, Te Tai Tonga) at the 2017 General Election, while agreeing to not stand a candidate in Te Tai Tokerau.
  3. Both MANA and the Maori Party also agree to allow each party:
    1. a)  to develop, present and promote the policies they think most appropriate;
    2. b)  to campaign for the party vote;
    3. c)  to criticise policies, without attacking candidates.
  4. This Kawenata will take effect on signing and remain in force until 5pm Sat 23 Sep 2017.

Press release from MANA,

“Been a long time coming, but it’s what the people have been calling for” said Lisa McNab, MANA President about the agreement that will see MANA and the Maori Party carry a strong mandate to win all seven Maori seats.

“Standing against one another only lets the party that stole our foreshore and seabed, steal our seats as well. We have to be better than that. Those seats belong to the Maori people, not to anyone else”

“Tuku came north last year to talk about how we might work together to bring those seats back to the Maori world, and ever since there’s been a real buzz in the Maori electorates” said McNab “From the race at Karapiro where MANA MAORI beat Labour easily to the delight of the crowd, to our going on to Ratana together, our taking a common stand at Waitangi, and out on the streets and in the maraes – the support has been awesome”

“Today’s arrangement formalises all of that.

“It allows MANA to focus on Te Tai Tokerau at the 2017 General Election, a decision we’d actually made at our AGM last year.

“And it adds weight to the Maori Party’s decision to stand candidates in the other 6 Maori seats (Tamaki Makaurau, Hauraki-Waikato, Waiariki, Ikaroa-Rawhiti, Te Tai Hauauru, Te Tai Tonga), and we wish them all the best in their endeavours.

“Both parties have agreed to not stand candidates against one another.

“And both parties will be free to develop the policies they think best; to campaign for the party vote; and to criticise one another’s policies without attacking each other’s candidates.

“We’ve got a big job ahead of us” said McNab “Things are even tougher now for our people than they were when Hone left, so we take nothing for granted.

“Last night’s Colmar-Brunton poll showing MANA registering in the ratings even though we’re not even in parliament yet was a pleasant surprise and public confirmation that MANA is back in the game.”

“That poll, coupled with the enthusiasm of the people and Hone’s track record, means we’re feeling really positive about 2017”

The Māori Party’s announcement,

The Māori Party and Mana Party have signed a historic agreement today to unite Māori politically.

Māori Party president Tukoroirangi Morgan said the kawenata or agreement was a huge step forward for Māori in the lead up to the general elections.

“Today is an important day for the Māori nation because today is when the country’s only two kaupapa Māori political parties unite to work tactically together in the best interests of our people,” says Mr Morgan.

“This kawenata is a genuine response to the undeniable and growing call from whānau, hapū, iwi and Māori organisations around the country to collectivise our efforts to reclaim all the seats from Labour.

“Māori disunity gifted the Māori seats to Labour in 2014 and it’s time for us to bring all the seats home to kaupapa Māori parties so we can hold the balance of power in Parliament and ensure a strong voice in government, regardless of which major party rules.”

The kawenata is underpinned by two principles: Recognising the importance of unity and having mutual respect for each other. 

Under the terms of the kawenata, the Māori Party will not stand a candidate in the Tai Tokerau electorate and Mana Party will not stand candidates in the other six Māori electorates.

Both parties will campaign for the party vote. The kawenata ends when voting in the general elections has closed.

Since 2009, the Māori Party has delivered more than $1 billion in funding for initiatives that benefit Māori.

“Māori must ask themselves just what 80 years of allegiance to Labour has bought them. The alliance grew out of necessity but it did not stop the last Labour Government from legislating another raupatu or confiscation through the Foreshore and Seabed Act,” says Mr Morgan.

Signatories to the kawenata from the Māori Party are president Tukoroirangi Morgan, co-leaders Te Ururoa Flavell and Marama Fox as well as the Tai Tokerau Māori Party electorate representative, Hinurewa Te Hau. Mana Party will be represented by their president Lisa McNab, co-leader Hone Harawira and kaumatua Joe Everitt.

Media coverage,

RNZ

Exclusive interview: Hone Harawira on his comeback deal with the Maori Party (David Fisher ad The Herald)

54 comments on “He Kawenata ki Waenga i Te Roopu MANA me Te Paati Māori ”

  1. bwaghorn 1

    ”to our going on to Ratana together, ” holding english’s hand

    • Muttonbird 1.1

      Lulz. Now there’s four National party lapdogs. Dunne, Flavell, Seymour, and Harawira.

      • bwaghorn 1.1.1

        Hone ‘s more easily lead ,than a self serving lap dog imho

      • weka 1.1.2

        Any evidence that HH will give C and S to National?

        • Jenny Kirk 1.1.2.1

          Yep – the mere fact of his going on Ratana marae with the Nats and Maori Party is evidence of that. Don’t be fooled.

          • weka 1.1.2.1.1

            Can you explain the significance of that Jenny? Why is the fact that Mana and the Mp were in the process of working together not enough of an explanation?

            • Leftie 1.1.2.1.1.1

              Hone has said in the past that he doesn’t support those that support National, so how is lining up with the Maori party, that supports National, and they have done so for the last 9 years going to work out? It looks like Hone has changed his mind and is no longer walking the talk.

              • weka

                “Hone has said in the past that he doesn’t support those that support National”

                I’d like to see the citation for that thanks, mostly because I’d like to see the context.

                Your comment also appears to have nothing to do with my question. If you think that HH will support National on C and S why don’t you just say? As it is, it just looks like you are running smear lines all over the place.

                • Leftie

                  You can think what you like Weka, and I haven’t said HH will support National on C and S, and I am not going to either. I am just posting opinions like everyone else and I am not here to convince you of anything. People can make up their own minds.

                  “That’s what’s happening under this National government. I don’t want to be anywhere near them aye, it just pains me to think that I could be anywhere near scumbags like that. So my view is a simple one, I will try to work with others but National is not one of them I’ll spit in his face. “

                  So my question was, in view of how Hone feels, how is lining up with the Maori party, that supports National, and they have done so for the last 9 years, going to work out?

                  This particular link that I have found for you is a very nice interview between Hone and Marama Fox. Hone’s attitude towards the Maori party has softened, from his critique of the party from the month before. See 8.1. Unfortunately the issue of the Maori party’s future ongoing support of National, particularly post election was not covered.

                  <a href="http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/06/23/waatea-5th-estate-the-importance-of-an-independent-maori-political-voice-with-marama-fox-hone-harawira/

                  • weka

                    “and I haven’t said HH will support National on C and S,”

                    Glad you are finally being honest. So you think the HH now supports National, but won’t give them C and S. Or something.

              • Carolyn_nth

                Hone’s unwillingness to support National, maybe the reason he/Mana still want/s to maintain the separateness of the Mana Party, and to end the MOU on election day.

                That way, the MOU is about co-ordinating their campaigns in order to retain Māori seats in control of parties focused strongly on representing Māori .

                After the election, then, the Mp and Mana would make their own decisions about whether or not to support National or Labour.

                Given the Mana kaupapa, there are two intersecting values – flax roots support for Māori, plus support for those on the lowest incomes. That means Mana would need to carefully negotiate between various vested interests to maintain those values.

                And it seems to me, that while Mana are totally against National, they don’t fully trust Labour either to support their kaupapa.

                • weka

                  “And it seems to me, that while Mana are totally against National, they don’t fully trust Labour either to support their kaupapa.”

                  This. And some people want to insist that if one doesn’t support Labour one must support National.

          • Leftie 1.1.2.1.2

            Yes, it looks like the lines have been drawn, Jenny.

  2. Cynical jester 2

    After he called the Maori party nationals house n*g*rs! Hone is a total sell out and i look forward to Kelvin wiping the floor with this twat.

  3. doc 3

    To the previous commenters, any of use fallas Maori ?

    • bwaghorn 3.1

      does it matter

      • simbit 3.1.1

        I think it does due to cultural lens (for want of better term). So reading this after one coffee, I see the Kaupapa as “the betterment of the people we serve” ie Maori. All else is subservient to that.

  4. In Vino 4

    Thank you Weka for being the only dissenting questioner. Why so keen to see HH as a backslider? He has always been the most open and obvious true left-winger in politics for a long time to my mind.
    I think that those who fear he will side with National are confused centrists.
    He is irredeemably left, and will probably at some time say so in unacceptably rude terms. Good on him.

    • weka 4.1

      Have to admit it’s hard not to see a lot of the lines being run as weird. Hone Harawira as a National supporter, after all that history? Really? Not that I think it’s entirely impossible for him to support National for pragmatic reasons, and let’s not forget there is a difference between ‘working with’ and ‘supporting on C and S’ (a difference that too many here seem to forget). I just don’t see anything to support the idea that he’s suddenly become a righty.

      • Leftie 4.1.1

        I haven’t read anyone calling Hone a “National supporter.”

        • weka 4.1.1.1

          You can play word games all you like, and along with the fact that you won’t clarify what you mean, it just looks like you can’t address the facts and are running smear lines.

          • Leftie 4.1.1.1.1

            What smear lines?

            • In Vino 4.1.1.1.1.1

              In your very first response on this page you accuse Hone of no longer walking the talk. Straight smear to my mind. Except you cringe behind ‘looks like’. Still rather smeary.

              • Leftie

                Get a grip on yourself In Vino. Not smeary at all. I have put up links, and why would I cringe?

  5. Cinny 5

    “Standing against one another only lets the party that stole our foreshore and seabed, steal our seats as well. We have to be better than that.”

    One would have thought Maori Party dealt with the foreshore/seabed issue with the current outgoing government in 2011, when the act was repealed?

    But didn’t Labour vote with Hone to reject the repeal, and Maori Party voted against Hone and with National in support of it?

    Wasn’t that also the year that Hone left the Maori Party because he believed that they were disadvantaging Maori by working with National?

    Please correct me if I am wrong with any of that. Thanks.

    Is it ego or pride that makes one selective with grudges?

  6. Cynical jester 6

    I would have voted Internet mana had he and kdc not been involved. I like a lot of his supporters just not him, or his whanau. National wouldn’t work with him. Labour probably would but they are desperate He’d get in and be the same old nasty homophobe he was when he was last in parliament. I hate when has beens come back from the dead.

    • garibaldi 6.1

      Well Cynical, you certainly are cynical.
      Why do Labour hate people from the real Left?

      • Cynical jester 6.1.1

        Im really not the biggest fan of labour! If they were running on a truly progressive platform id be happy to supprt them but they are watered down and timid. yeah I’m cynical and I support indigenous politics i just think there are much greater voices than hone.

        • Cynical jester 6.1.1.1

          Also hone is harldly left hes sold his soul twice to rich right wing men. Kdc and the nats.

  7. Tarquin 7

    Hone and his hangers on were known as the Mandela football club around Kaitaia. Says a lot about the bloke.

    • lprent 7.1

      He likes football?

      I am not sure that says much. It is a religion up north.

      • Tarquin 7.1.1

        Very droll Lprent, these football hooligans are really getting out of hand.

      • greywarshark 7.1.2

        Tarquin
        Your choice of pseudonym and your sneering attitude to Hone and the information you share about the way people in your gang think, centred around sport your place of higher education, gives insight to the quality of your comment.

        At the least its racist and classist, and definitely can be categorised as tall poppy syndrome, the debilitating mental condition that holds NZ back from a full integrated successful nationhood and economy.

        • Tarquin 7.1.2.1

          That reference is common street slang in the north. You should learn more about the area before calling me racist and classist. There are a lot of good people up here who want to see the place move forward, but people won’t invest in an area where they see strife and division. Things were going well for a while up there, but the rise Of the Mana movement put a stop to that. Kelvin has quietly done a lot to restore peoples faith, but the Harawira hangover will take time to clear.

  8. saveNZ 8

    Wish Labour had done a deal with Hone Hawawira rather than The Maori Party.

    Not many people would think that Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 justified supporting National, and is merely a manipulation and giving more commercial rights against environmental considerations while NOT giving Maori the Seabed and Foreshore and just helping a small minority of Maori get short term profit while taking from the rest of Maori.

    The Maori Party have morphed into an Uncle Tom that will not speak out against what the National party have done to Maori, in particular the most vulnerable Maori and the most vulnerable non Maori. That’s the sad part, that they don’t even noticed they have been manipulated.

    Although Labour introduced the Seabed and Foreshore Act, it did mean they won the election (if they had not won the election, what would happen to Maori under Brash?) and were able to introduce interest free student loans for people remaining in NZ which helped Maori students. These days even beneficiaries are forced to take out loans to ‘study’ (pretty much against their will by the National party WINZ changes). All the terrible things done in the last decade by National against the people on NZ would not have happened.

    The Seabed and Foreshore might have been wrong in principal by Labour but it probably helped Maori more than a 2005 Brash government would have who would have gone a lot further against Maori rights.

    Look at the thinking, from Brash and the cronies – they do not even have any comprehension about Maori, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhx5VDWVv0M

    John Key’s strategy seems to be say what Maori wanted to hear but still kept on with Brash’s plans. As soon as he did not get TPPA through he left the country (his job was done)and is now a walking billboard of advertising at Golf events and polling at 2% .

    Under National and The Maori party, Maori are worse off in every statistic.

  9. dialey 9

    If Labour were really serious about changing the government they would be building bridges with all the leftish parties instead of slagging off potential allies. I was really disappointed to hear Andrew Little’s negativity this morning. It comes across as mean spirited and tribal. For goodness sake, I want to see an end to the National party government, it is going to take a concerted effort, not petty point scoring

    • Leftie 9.1

      But Dialy, the Maori party supports National.

      • dialey 9.1.1

        Currently, but everything is negotiable. Bottom line for Labour is whether they want to change the government, having a choice of coalition partners that removes the need to rely on Winston, I would have thought would be a no-brainer.

        • saveNZ 9.1.1.1

          @ dialey It would if the Maori party had ever supported Labour in the past like Winston Peters has.

          Might be dreaming if you think The Maori Party is going to change tack now and you waste your vote, by thinking voting for The Maori party is going to change the government!

        • Leftie 9.1.1.2

          Andrew Little: “Well, I don’t see that… they’ve been shackled to the National government for the last 8 years… I can’t see.. they don’t represent, to me the Maori party don’t represent change, in the end the voters will decide the make up of parliament, but we will campaign, I will campaign on, if you want to change what’s happening now, you got to change the government, so you’ve got to vote for the party of change”

          (Willy Jackson continually interrupted Andrew Little)

          Andrew Little: “Let the voters decide, but we are the party of change, the Greens are a party of change, that’s what we are committed to, lets see what the voters turn up at the parliament and if we are in a position to do so, we will talk to those interested in fundamentally changing what the story is now.. We know who those parties of change are, right now.”

          “They’ve [Maori Party] shackled themselves to the National government for the last 8 years, they are as responsible as any National mp for the failure of people to get affordable houses, a decent education and all those other issues.. They’re not, right now if I think about the radar, about the parties of change, they are not on it”

          <a href="http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/08/30/waatea-5th-estate-labour-vs-nz-first-the-fight-for-maori-votes/

          That view hasn’t changed judging by the recent comments made by Labour and the Maori party at Ratana and at Waitangi.

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