Maori Party AGM in Rotorua to signal new focus

The Maori Party is preparing to regroup following a disastrous election which failed to return any MPs to Parliament.

Party members will gather for its annual general meeting (AGM) in Rotorua on Saturday, where they will elect a new president and co-vice presidents.

One of those standing for the co-vice leadership is co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell, who said it was time the party looked forward and started working on a strategy to return it to the Beehive in 2020.

But any decisions on party leadership are some way off.

Flavell lost his Waiariki seat to Labour's Tamati Coffey in 2017, a defeat which bundled the Maori Party out of Parliament.

Labour won all seven Maori seats.

Flavell and co-leader Marama Fox have remained in their positions since the election.

But Flavell said he was only staying in the role on an interim basis until new leadership elections could be held.

That could be in "two months or five months", but it would definitely be before the end of the year, he said.

Securing a new leadership team was one of the party's priorities, alongside finances, membership, and strategy, he said.

Part of that would include whether to focus on the party vote or seek electorate seats.

"We don't have to rush, but at the same time we need to be organised."

The political landscape was changing "by the week, by the month", and the party needed to determine how it would adjust to that, he said.

The election of a new president and vice-presidents of the party would help it look to the future, but Flavell said there needed to be a balance between new faces and institutional knowledge.

That was one of the reasons he was standing for the co-vice presidency, he said.

"I don't envisage being there forever, but I think I could serve a good purpose."

The AGM will begin with a pohiri at Tangatarua Marae, Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, at 9.30am on Saturday.

Maori Party AGM
Candidate for party president - Che Wilson
Candidate for male co-vice president - Te Ururoa Flavell
Candidates for female co-vice president - Kaapua Smith, Amiria Te Whiu