Isolated Maori MP weighs options

By RUTH BERRY political reporter

It has been a long week for National's sole Maori MP, Georgina te Heuheu, and she is wary about doing another interview which may been seen to increase the tension with party leader Don Brash.

But she relents, if only because she is a politician and few politicians, particularly in Opposition, like turning down such opportunities.

She has probably had more media coverage in the past week than for several years because of her forthright criticism of her new leader's first big speech of the year.

National colleagues have downplayed the significance of her criticism, as did Dr Brash, who says he has significant "respect" for her.

But when she refused to confirm that, as Maori affairs and associate constitutional and Treaty of Waitangi issues spokeswoman, she would promote the ideas Dr Brash had articulated, he drew a line in the sand.

He said they would talk during the party's three-day caucus retreat in Whangarei starting on Monday "to enable her to express her views to me directly and to enable me to see what the next appropriate steps are".

Until then he would not guarantee that she would keep her positions.

"She wouldn't want to have a spokesmanship and find that she's at variance with major areas of policy."

Mrs te Heuheu seems a little taken aback by his reaction and is unwilling to speculate on the outcome of their talk.

She is not retracting her criticisms, however.

She will not relinquish the Maori affairs portfolio (the associate treaty portfolio poses less of a problem), but appears resigned to the possibility that it may be taken from her.

"Funnily enough I have a whole lot of other interests. I think I'm a thoughtful contributor to a number of areas including defence and foreign affairs."

It is a strangely benign response for the MP who makes a near-religious effort to attend hui after hui and who says she has dedicated her life to improving the country's understanding of the treaty andto lifting Maori performance.

But she sees things from a longer-term perspective - which includes preserving her personal credibility.

While she accepts that there may be a price for speaking out, she says she has the support of a number of party members.

She has referred repeatedly to the National Party of the 90s - a party whose treaty settlement initiatives she believes marked an important maturing of the nation.

She has contrasted Dr Brash's approach to that of Prime Minister Jim Bolger and respected Treaty Negotiations Minister Sir Douglas Graham, who this week backed Dr Brash.

Behind the references is another reminder - it was Mr Bolger who sought out Mrs te Heuheu before the 1996 election and put the first-term MP, the first Maori woman to gain a law degree, straight into the Cabinet.

Why? "I imagine they would have been desperate for the first MMP election to have a Maori standing in their ranks."

Her legal experience, her 10 years on the Waitangi Tribunal and her impeccable tribal connections - she is married to a son of the hugely influential Tuwharetoa paramount chief the late Sir Hepi te Heuheu - made her a great catch.

Sir Hepi, who ironically led the assault against National's fiscal envelope proposals at the time, decided she should be given the job of informing the party of Maori views.

Preparations for the 2002 elections began well for Mrs te Heuheu with Michelle Boag, party president at the time, and Bill English, the then leader, embracing a move to "reach out" to Maori.

Former top bureaucrat and treaty consultant Hekia Parata won a high place on the list and her husband, Wira Gardiner, took on the party's Maori vice-presidency.

The trio threw their considerable talents into recruiting Maori support. It did not sit comfortably with some and after the disastrous 2002 defeat, dissenters blamed the result on the attempt to court Maori.

Mr English turned his back on the plan and unveiled his "One Standard of Citizenship" campaign.

Mr Gardiner, Ms Parata and Mrs te Heuheu felt betrayed at the efforts they had put into recruiting Maori members, who began to desert the party.

The angry comments made by all this week echo sentiments already expressed by Mr Gardiner, who resigned in late 2002, and Mrs te Heuheu - only this time they were stronger.

While Mrs te Heuheu may feel uncomfortable promoting Dr Brash's policies, she already has considerable leeway when it comes to promoting some of the party's "tougher" Maori policies - leaving others to be the hitmen, one MP says.


She admits her family are "very concerned" about her.

Mr Gardiner says she has been "marginalised".

Prominent Tuwharetoa supporter Dixon Chapman says: "For Georgina to have made this stand, things must have been bad."

She has won respect for her stance around Taupo but he personally wonders when she will decide enough is enough.

Mrs te Heuheu does not know when this might be and says it will ultimately be a decision for her family.

But she does not appear to have given up yet. Last night she laughed off suggestions that she might leave the party as a result of this week's ructions.

She has not yet decided whether to stand at the next election and is still considering her options.

But in an indication that she has not yet given up on a future in National, she said: "Leaders come and go, the party still remains."

It is a comment unlikely to strengthen her relationship with Dr Brash, whom she ironically voted for in the leadership coup. (She did not ask him how he would handle race relations but was impressed by his firm decision-making.)

"Am I lonely?" she said. "I might look lonely some days but who doesn't look lonely in Opposition?"