Tukoroirangi Morgan
Māori Party President
1 September 2017

Tuku Morgan: “Work with us, for our peoples’ sake”

The Māori Party is calling on the new leader of the Labour Party Jacinda Ardern and new deputy leader Kelvin Davis to work with them in the best interests of Aotearoa.

"Māori people throughout the country are telling me they want our party to work with Labour if it's in a position to form a Government after September 23," said Māori Party president Tukoroirangi Morgan.

"We've always said we'd work with both sides, blue or red, but Andrew Little killed off any hope of that happening when he closed the door on us.

"We're hoping Jacinda and Kelvin won't be as closed minded and that they’ll agree to work with kaupapa Māori.

"Like Labour our party is concerned about more than half the prison population being Māori, not enough Māori people owning their own homes, whānau ora not getting enough funding to make the difference we want it to and the shocking number of people sleeping in their cars and on the streets.

"For the sake of those people, we need to work together or at least have a proper and meaningful discussion about it."

In the past few months the Māori Party has strengthened relationships with Mana and Pacific communities.

"We are about achieving mana motuhake and we know we’ll have to work with everyone including Labour to help us get there."

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