Issues rift turns friend into foe

Coastal legislation is at the heart of arguments in the electorate, which includes Ohope Beach.

It's a changed local political landscape that Waiariki incumbent Te Ururoa Flavell faces, with battlelines clearly drawn between himself and one of his former allies.

Mr Flavell has comfortably held the seat since 2005 when Maori vented their anger and frustration at the Labour government's foreshore and seabed legislation and the Maori Party was created.

But discontent with changes made to the legislation prompted the defection of one of Mr Flavell's closest supporters, lawyer Annette Sykes, to the Hone Harawira-led Mana Party.

Ms Sykes said Mr Flavell had let down dozens of coastal hapu and iwi within the electorate by failing to stop energy giant Petrobras' mining exploration permit and by supporting the Marine and Coastal Area Act.

It is something that grates with Mr Flavell, who says he has met representatives from Petrobras to raise concerns and consulted iwi over the Marine and Coastal Area Act.

"I went around the electorate and asked the question and I told all the people involved with the Maori Party what the scenario was [with the legislation], and they told me to carry on," he said.

"Those people have put me in and those are the people I listen to."

Ms Sykes, a former Maori Party financial member, disagrees.

"Te Arawa, Tauranga Moana and Ngati Awa all made submissions to the select committee saying 'you've got it wrong' ... 71 of 72 iwi said 'this is not right' and he seemed to know better."

Mr Flavell, Ms Sykes and Labour's Louis Te Kani do agree on addressing high levels of Maori unemployment, the cost of living and improved education in an electorate where more than 40 per cent of Maori children attend decile one and two schools.

Mr Flavell, who has a Ngati Rangiwewehi and Ngapuhi whakapapa, will draw support from within the conservative ranks of Te Arawa.

Sources in the iwi say he is liked and respected and is just as likely to be seen at the back of the marae peeling potatoes as he is out the front debating matters.

Tipped to become Maori Party leader when Pita Sharples steps down, he holds the advantage with his party's well-established and organised - though not well-funded - electorate infrastructure.

Kawerau-raised Ms Sykes believes her backing will come from her iwi, Ngati Pikiao and Ngati Makino, and given her long association with activist Tame Iti from within the Tuhoe boundaries.

She also believes she has support from the Eastern Bay of Plenty and coastal iwi such as Te Whanau a Apanui.

A Te Arawa source said she was "outspoken and brash" but had the iwi's grudging respect.

She would likely appeal to younger Maori voters and the disenfranchised, but mobilising these groups remains a challenge.

Meanwhile, Labour's Mr Te Kani rates his chances as "better than even", as he believes the competition between Mr Flavell and Ms Sykes will split the vote.

The Rotorua lawyer admitted to the Herald that Labour's foreshore and seabed legislation was a debacle but said the version the Maori Party had agreed to with National was even worse.

He agreed with Ms Sykes that poverty remained a serious local issue.

He wanted Maori to be drivers in their own economy and questioned why people in places such as Ruatahuna paid high rates yet had no public toilets, swimming pools or street lights.

Mr Te Kani said he was buoyed by the fact that Labour had always won the party vote in Waiariki.