Creating a pan-Maori party defeats Jackson

By RUTH BERRY political reporter

Former MP Willie Jackson resigned as Mana Maori Motuhake leader last week, disillusioned by unsuccessful attempts to create one big Maori party.

Mr Jackson told the Herald that while people were always talking about setting up such a party, he had become "very frustrated" with the lack of enthusiasm when it came to actually building one.

His new job as chairman of the National Urban Maori Authority and plans to host a TV3 Maori current affairs show next year also created potential conflict-of-interest problems.

"I'm sitting down with ministers and they're wondering if I'm organising against them."

Mr Jackson is also the general manager of UMA Broadcasting, which runs Radio Watea and George FM.

While he'd "love" to go back to Parliament, he didn't rate his chances.

In October last year Mr Jackson led the charge to divorce Mana Motuhake from the Alliance and rename it Mana Maori Motuhake.

He said then he planned to hold talks with Mana Maori and the party fellow broadcaster Derek Fox had established, with the aim of uniting all parties under one pan-Maori party banner.

But Mr Fox, who nearly beat Parekura Horomia when running as an Independent in Ikaroa-Rawhiti in 1999, accepted the job of Maori Television Service chief this year and put his political aspirations on hold.

After his surprise resignation from MTS several months ago, Mr Fox signalled he had no immediate plans to get back into politics.

He told the Herald on Friday he had no comment to make on the subject.

Mr Jackson said his party had talked to a number of people and groups over the past year, including Mr Fox, Mana Motuhake and Treaty Tribes.

"The reality is that became very frustrating - people not making deadlines or showing up for meetings, not returning phone calls."

He still believed it was possible for a Maori party to get into Parliament, but people had to get over their "apathy" and accept a lot of preparation had to be put into setting up a political vehicle.

Mana Maori co-leader Angelene Greensill said her party left its run late last election and mounted a challenge rather than a serious attempt to take the Maori seats.

It planned to target them next election with an 18-month lead-in.

She had not been involved in talks with Mana Maori Motuhake, although Auckland members might have, and believed some type of alliance might well be possible.

Mana Maori Motuhake's president Vern Winitana said the party would not rush to appoint a new leader.

It would be "extremely difficult" to get a successful Maori party, which could take seats, off the ground, but it was possible.