KEY POINTS:
The race for the Ikaroa-Rawhiti seat is tipped to be a crucial one for the Maori Party, with some commentators viewing it as an indicator to whether the Party will hold the balance of power in the next Parliament.
Very little separates the candidates, Derek Fox and the incumbent, Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia.
They are related, sharing a common Ngati Porou and Ngati Kahungunu ancestry and are taking a gentlemanly approach to vying with a cousin.
Recent polls put them only a whisker apart and up to now there have been few major issues to open any gaps.
Horomia, known to most people in his rohe (terratory) as Pare, is a staunch follower of the Labour Party line, who has not been known to have played a leading role in any major debate or issue.
He kept a low profile during the original outcry over the foreshore and seabed proposal, but was able to redeem himself when the Government offered special agreements to Ngati Porou, Te Whanau Apanui, and Ngati Pahauwera.
Horomia believes these agreements are a vehicle Maori can use to ensure that their rights, tikanga and history but Fox believes they will override potential property rights, and take from Maori the right to have an independent court of law determine their foreshore and seabed property rights.
He says the Act is a travesty that has set race relations in New Zealand back many years.
Horomia came back into the spotlight for a couple of days last week, when Gisborne Mayor Meng Foon took him to task as the Associate Education Minister. Foon was outraged that Horomia had allowed local school bus services to go to a Hamilton based company, at the expense of several East Coast businesses.
Like the veteran politician he is, Horomia ducked the issue, taking exception with Mayor Foon instead for questioning him.
As a political spectator, one gets the feeling Horomia is more effective behind the scenes and as a ceremonial guest at endless hui and functions.
Fox, by contrast, is a high profile media personality, former head of the Maori Television Service and former Wairoa mayor.
He is well used to being centre stage but was almost scuttled from it when first announced as the candidate for Ikaroa Rawhiti.
The race for selection included his friend Atareta Poananga, who surprised Fox's friends and associates in Wellington when she said she and Fox had been partners for over 13 years.
Then followed a report in the Truth newspaper, from an unnamed source, revealing that Fox had a domestic violence problem in the past.
Fox fronted up to the accusation, saying he had surrendered himself to police and counselling at the time and considered the complaints to be historic ones.
The Maori Party stood by its man.
Fox made it clear he wished to focus on the issues, with his main philosophy being the need for Maori people to have their own voice on all the issues rather than being a side issue for one of the main parties.
Both candidates have been conducting low-profile campaigns, Fox going door-to-door and Horomia being seen in all the right places.
The word on the street is divided.
Savvy young voters are giving the nod to Derek Fox, who is viewed as more switched on and whose views on Maori issues are less centrist.
There is also a feeling that Horomia will get in regardless because of his place on the list, so a vote for Fox will get the area the best of both worlds.
But a long time Tairawhiti elder and political campaigner says he has no doubt the incumbent will get back in.
"Derek Fox might pick up the Ngati Porou vote but there are only 4000 of them in this electorate and if 1500 of them vote it will be a record," the elder said.
Horomia's real base is in Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa and Wainuiomata. Those areas have a strong Labour background and a lot of freezing workers - and there is still the Ratana Church influence.
Horomia, in his days with the Labour Department, put in a lot of time and effort there. Maori people have long memories and it is the older people who will vote.
If there is a 60 per cent turnout it will be a record, and most of the young people might not get around to it.
- NZPA
