New Zealand First has dumped its Maori candidate for Te Tai Tokerau, replacing him with a man hand picked by Winston Peters, Mauri Pacific leader Tau Henare said today.

"New Zealand First has shown why Maori should never trust the party. If you are not a Winston puppet prepared to jump at his beck and call, then don't bother with the party. Its Winston First, pakeha second and Maori a token consideration."

Mr Henare said the dumped New Zealand First candidate, Anaru George, was a good, decent man, who did not deserve the party?s underhand tactics.

He said Anaru George was being unethically dumped to make way for Maori Trustee, Pita Paraone, a close friend of Winston Peters.

"Three months ago, Tutekawa Wyllie trumpeted the selection of Anaru George as based on tikanga. Has tikanga now determined that Anaru should be dumped?" Mr Henare asked.

"New Zealand First has alienated many Maori in Tai Tokerau, and in doing so, it has also revealed that it will continue to treat Maori as second class citizens," Tau Henare said.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>