Hone Harawira says his party can no longer be just for Maori.
Photo / Sarah Ivey
Hone Harawira says his party can no longer be just for Maori.
Photo / Sarah Ivey
Once, Hone Harawira said he wouldn't want his daughter dating Pakeha. Now, he says, he's getting used to the new experience of shaking hands with them.
It has been a revelation for the radical MP who is now leading the Mana Party.
At the party's campaign launch in Otara yesterday,Harawira said he had been meeting Pakeha who were showing support for his party - a shock to his system.
"I'm not actually that used to shaking Pakeha hands."
Previously, he talked about poor Maori and Pacific Islanders, but now there were more poor Pakeha. "We are not just a party for Maori, we can no longer be a party just for Maori," he said.
Two years ago, Harawira described Pakeha as "white motherf*****s" who had been "ripping us off for centuries", in an email to ex-Waitangi Tribunal director Buddy Mikaere.
University of Otago politics lecturer Bryce Edwards said Harawira now needed to let party members like Sue Bradford and John Minto take a stronger role.
