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Te Pāti Māori has announced Aperahama Edwards as its candidate for Te Tai Tokerau in this year’s election.
It follows the departure of MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi who split from Te Pāti Māori to set up her own party, named after the electorate.
Edwards, who is of Ngātiwai descent and chairs the Ngātiwai Trust Board, will run against Kapa-Kingi, Labour’s Willow-Jean Prime and the Greens’ Hūhana Lyndon.
He was standing because “our people need a voice that will not bend when Te Tiriti is under attack,” he said.
“Our whānau deserve leadership that is steady, disciplined and focused on the kaupapa that matter to Te Tai Tokerau: our whenua, our moana, our reo, our rangatahi, our kaumātua, our homes, our kai, and the future we leave behind for our mokopuna.”
Te Pāti Māori said Edwards was a respected leader with a long record of service to iwi, hapū and whānau across the north.
He was removed from Parliament’s public gallery last year after interrupting a debate about the government’s changes to the Marine and Coastal Area Act, which he had out against previously.
His work included kaupapa Māori advocacy, te reo revitalisation, ocean conservation, regional development, and the protection of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the party said.
“We are grateful to Aperahama for putting his hand up in this political climate. That takes courage, conviction and a deep commitment to the kaupapa,” said co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.
“He is a rangatira in his own right. He has stood at the front of the fight for Te Tiriti, for He Whakaputanga, for te iwi Māori, and for the future our mokopuna deserve.”
Co-leader Rawiri Waititi said Edwards was “one of the visible leaders of the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti, standing alongside tens of thousands who marched against the Government’s attack on Te Tiriti”.
Waititi said Te Pāti Māori would contest all seven Māori electorates.
Nā RNZ.
