Harawira ready to work with all

Hone Harawira, the Maori Party's candidate for the Te Tai Tokerau seat, says he could work with any party - including National.

The veteran Maori activist and organiser of last year's vocal foreshore and seabed hikoi was confirmed on Saturday night as the fledgling party's candidate for the northern Maori electorate held by Dover Samuels for Labour.

Mr Harawira, 50, said one of the things he liked about National was "they stab you in the front".

"You see them coming, so yeah, I can work with the National Party because they are pretty straightforward about what they believe to be the way forward."

Co-leader Tariana Turia said last year that the Maori Party would work with any other parties in Parliament, including National.

The Kaitaia-based organisation Mr Harawira runs, Te Reo Irirangi o Te Hiku o Te Ika, was in the gun from National MP Katherine Rich last year after the Labour Department's now-defunct Community Employment Group gave the body $115,000 to fund a regional television station.

The grant's management by the group was criticised in an internal audit released just before Christmas.

Despite cancellation of the final $15,000, Mr Harawira is still pushing ahead with plans for the station, Te Hiku TV.

Asked if he could work with Labour, Mr Harawira said the Maori Party's role was to lay out a platform of issues important to Maori and ways to advance them.

"Once we've established that, we should be flexible and intelligent enough to work with whoever can help us to deliver on them."

A TVNZ Marae-DigiPoll survey last September showed that of 600 voters on the Maori roll, 35.7 per cent supported the Maori Party and 26.3 per cent would vote Labour.

Mr Samuels did not return calls yesterday. Prime Minister Helen Clark would say only that she thought Mr Samuels had a "very good chance".