Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No - it's the Maori Party!

Derek Fox, Candidate for Ikaroa Rawhiti Friday 19 September 2008

The Maori Party launched its highest-profile 'billboard' this afternoon - a hundred-square metre banner, towed behind a plane in the skies over Auckland.

Organiser of the banner, high-flying pilot and candidate for Ikaroa-Rawhiti, Derek Fox, said flying kites had a political connotation, but to Maori, it was a serious business.

"For our tipuna, there was a lot of prowess and skill attached to flying manu aute.

"Kites were used to divine the future. Tohunga studied how they flew, and interpreted t
he signs," he said.

"The Maori Party would say that this banner, with our logo on it, is definitely a potent sign for the future of Maori, and the nation," he said.

"We hope that people all over the country will study its flight, as we take it round the seven electorates, and see a clear sign for how they should vote in the coming election," said Mr Fox.

The banner to be launched tonight will be seen by the sell-out crowd watching the Warriors rugby league semi-final, and will appear again tomorrow before the big Ranfurly Shield Challenge at Eden Park.

Ends.

The banner will be launched from Ardmore Aerodrome at 4.40pm, from near the tower; it will fly past the top of Mt Wellington around 5pm; and will circle the city and around Ericson Stadium for around an hour.

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