Q+A: Jessica Mutch Interviews Meka Whaitiri
Q+A: Jessica Mutch Interviews Meka
Whaitiri
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Q+A
JESSICA
MUTCH INTERVIEWS MEKA
WHAITIRI
JESSICA
MUTCH
Meka Whaitiri, congratulations on your win last
night.
MEKA WHAITIRI - Labour, Ikaroa
Rawhiti
Thank you very much.
JESSICA
How much pressure was on you to win this
by-election?
MEKA
Look, I went into this campaign with my eyes open.
I had a great team behind me under David Shearer’s
leadership. He put the resources of the party behind, and
I’m happy to come out with the win at the end of the
day.
JESSICA You
talk about that team. You did have a lot of people pumped
into this campaign, didn’t you? You had MPs travelling
with you almost every day. David Shearer spent a lot of time
in the electorate. The Labour machinery came out. You needed
to win this, didn’t
you?
MEKA
Um, absolutely. Um, but I also had very close
family and an army of supporters and volunteers throughout
the country who I really want to send a big thank you from
the bottom of my heart. But, you know, we crafted a very
strong campaign. We all worked hard, and it got the result
at the end of the
day.
JESSICA As well
as crafting a campaign, you were also coming off the back of
Parekura Horomia who was obviously a hero in the electorate.
Did you win this seat out of respect for
him?
MEKA
Look, I really put my hand up because of what
Parekura did for our people here in Ikaroa Rawhiti and for
the country as a whole, and he set a clear pathway forward,
and I’m keen to bring my style, my skill sets, my
experience to the pathway that he set. And at the end of the
day, like, I said, people of Ikaroa Rawhiti have put their
trust in me, and I’m very humbled by
it.
JESSICA Is it
going to be open slather, though, next election? Are all
bets off?
MEKA
Um, I’m really happy to join David Shearer’s
caucus, and we’re going to work really, really hard to
become the next government in
2014.
JESSICA That
brings us to an interesting point. You’re coming in at a
time when Labour isn’t doing particularly well. What’s
Labour doing wrong, in your
opinion?
MEKA
Um, look, I’ve put all my efforts into running a
strong campaign, and I can see there’s opportunities for,
first and foremost, my electorate. It’s suffering. We
don’t have the jobs. Our people are being removed from
homes-
JESSICA
Labour as a whole, though. What do you think it
needs to work
on?
MEKA
Well, clearly they’ve heard the message from the
people throughout Ikaroa Rawhiti, from David, from Annette
King, from Phil Twyford, who have joined me and supported me
in this campaign. They’ve heard the issues from the people
of Ikaroa Rawhiti, and I know they’re working on those
policies so we can be an effective government when we come
in in 2014.
JESSICA
You’ve been on the outside of this, though.
Looking in now, what are the things that you think Labour
needs to work on? You’re going to be part of this caucus
now. What will you be suggesting to your fellow
MPs?
MEKA
It’s making policy that’s relevant to our
people. There’s an iwi-Maori economy that’s just been
scratched that can really make a difference. I’m looking
around this economy under this current government. I don’t
see any innovation there. The result is our people are still
hugely unemployed, hugely health challenges, and, you know,
my experience working in an iwi for the last four years and
the opportunities I can see there, which is much broader
than just mining and drilling, that’s what I’m bringing
to the Labour Party, and I’m looking forward to
it.
JESSICA Well,
that’s interesting as well, because you have gone from
being the CEO of a very large iwi. You’ve gone from being
the star of this by-election. You’re then going to come in
and be a backbench MP in Opposition. How are you going to
cope with
that?
MEKA
I’m looking forward to joining the David
Shearer-led caucus, and I’m bringing my skills to task.
This is a party that our people in Ikaroa Rawhiti have
always been in terms of it’s red here in Ikaroa Rawhiti.
We’ve held this seat, and I believe that the leadership of
the Labour Party has heard with their own ears the struggles
but more so the solutions, and that’s where I’m coming
from. I’m coming from a solution-based process, and, like
I said, the iwi-Maori economy is yet to be played out, and
I’m keen to see that being a flagship for the Labour
Party.
JESSICA Well,
thank you very much for your time this morning. Go and enjoy
your day. You’ll have a busy few weeks coming up ahead of
you.
MEKA
Thank you very
much.
ENDS