MEDIA STATEMENT
Na Rongowhakaata Raihania
Maori Party candidate for Ikaroa Rawhiti
12 June 2013

Whanau ora efforts touch thousands in Ikaroa Rawhiti

More than 10,000 people from Ikaroa Rawhiti are now on a serious path to strengthening their families, thanks to the efforts of the Maori Party.

“Our party is doing now for whanau what other candidates and their parties can only talk about,” said Na Raihania, the Maori Party candidate for Ikaroa Rawhiti.

“This achievement has come about because our party has listened to our people on the ground and turned that korero into action.

“It saddens me when I hear other candidates, from parties much bigger than ours, accuse us of failing our people when in fact we’re doing some pretty amazing stuff.”

Mr Raihania said the benefits the Maori Party had already gained for Ikaroa Rawhiti whanau would only get stronger if the electorate had an MP inside the only party in Parliament that had an agreement with the Government.

Figures from Te Puni Kokiri, which administers the whanau ora initiative, show that 9,825 people in Ikaroa Rawhiti were part of whanau ora projects in 2011-12 that were given a total of $1.36 million in funding secured by the Maori Party. More projects have since been initiated in the area but those figures will not be known until later this year.

“I’m so proud of our families in Ikaroa Rawhiti for stepping up to the mark, reconnecting and planning for their future and I have no doubt that in the years to come we will see the fruits of their hard work.”

Whanau ora is about families taking control of their own futures, coming up with their own solutions to the challenges they face.

Mr Raihania said whanau ora was part of a wider strategy by the Maori Party to uplift Maori communities.

ENDS

© Scoop Media