The final Whakatau 2023 debate will take place tonight and see a prominent cabinet minister come face to face with the three wāhine toa who want his job.
Peeni Henare first won the Tāmaki Makaurau in 2014 for Labour and has held various ministerial portfolios since Labour came to power in 2017. Notably, he is the Minister for Whānau Ora and Associate Minister of Health (Māori Health) – a role that saw him become a crucial player in the government’s Covid-19 response taskforce.
Henare, a great-grandson of former Northern Māori MP Taurekareka Henare, and a cousin of former National and NZ First MP, Tau Henare, has seen off the challenges of John Tamihere, Marama Davidson, Shane Taurima and Rangi McLean in previous elections. However, in 2023 he finds himself up against a formidable group of wāhine Māori each with strong, but varied, backgrounds in the Tāmaki Makaurau rohe.
He will put his case forward for re-election against Takutai Kemp (Te Pāti Māori), Darleen Tana (Greens) and Hinurewa Te Hau (National) in the 7th debate on Whakaata Māori with host Tina Wickliffe.
Tana is an environmentalist with a background in science and experience both in Aotearoa and Europe and in corporate and grassroots settings.
She stood for the Greens at the 2020 election in the Northland seat but has moved down to Tāmaki Makaurau in the hopes of helping the Green Party maximise its presence in Parliament to continue her advocacy work for issues around climate change and the environment.
Also appearing tonight will be Kemp, who also gained a national profile during the pandemic as the chief executive of Manurewa Marae.
The South Auckland marae became a significant feature of the Māori response to Covid-19, establishing itself as a community-based assessment centre (CBAC), a distribution hub for care packs for whānau in isolation, and a vaccination centre.
Kemp has worked in the public health sector for more than a decade, including as chief executive of Te Kaha o Te Rangatahi – a youth organisation that specialises in sexual health, smoking cessation and youth development. She is also a passionate supporter of hip-hop dancing. She was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2022 for services to street dance and youth.
Hinurewa Te Hau is a former member and list candidate of Te Pāti Māori but returned to her National Party roots this year when leader Christopher Luxon confirmed the party will contest Māori electorates for the first time in 21 years. Te Hau has a career in marketing and business, Māori and economic development and is working in the creative sector. She is a co-founder of the Matariki Cultural Foundation, which organises cultural events, builds cultural capability and promotes Māori and Pasifika musicians.
Despite her foray into Te Pāti Māori during the previous decade, she was born and raised in the National Party. Her father, Matiu, is a former three-term Māori vice-president of the National Party, and Hinurewa contested the Māngere seat in the 1990′s. Her uncle, Sir Graham Latimer was also a Māori vice-president of the party and stood in the Northern Māori seat on two occasions.
The four leading candidates will debate the key issues facing Tāmaki Makaurau, which extends from Te Henga (Bethells Beach) in the west, parts of West Auckland (east of Oratia Stream and Te Wai-o-Pareira – excluding Te Atatū Peninsula) the entire Auckland isthmus, Waiheke Island, East Auckland and South Auckland as far as Takanini.
Henare won the seat in 2020 with a margin of 927 over Tamihere.
But with four challengers to his throne, including Hannah Tamaki standing for VisionNZ, will Henare’s margin increase, or will the land of a hundred lovers swipe left (or right)? Exclusive Whakaata Māori-Curia Market Research polls will also be released.
Join Tina Wickliffe tonight at 7:00 PM on Whakaata Māori, MĀORI+, and live on teaonews.co.nz.
