Labour leader harangued on campaign trail

Labour Leader David Cunliffe's final stop during a day of campaigning saw him harangued in te reo by a man angry at his stance ruling out working with either the Maori or internet-Mana parties after the election.

Mr Cunliffe spent this afternoon speedily working his way around shopping centres in East and South Auckland, finishing up at Manukau shopping centre, where he was greeted loudly and passionately in Maori by 25-year-old Maori Party activist Terata Hikairo.

Mr Hikairo had earlier told reporters he intended to greet Mr Cunliffe and raise his concerns that people in South Auckland only saw much of politicians once every three years - at election time.

Mr Cunliffe listened attentively to Mr Hikairo's mihi which became increasingly strident. Mr Hikairo was eventually pushed away by a member of Mr Cunliffe's entourage with two police also helping move him away from the scene.

"I thought it was lovely to have a traditional welcome in te reo," Mr Cunliffe told reporters afterwards, "and it occurred to me after a while it wasn't going to be that traditional."

Labour's Tamaki Makaurau candidate Peeni Henare had been translating for Mr Cunliffe but the Labour leader said it was "a little difficult to tell" what Mr Hikairo was saying.

"I think the gentleman's state of mind was a little unsettled," Mr Cunliffe said.

But Mr Hikairo reacted angrily to that comment.

"Is he a GP?"

He said he had taken Mr Cunliffe to task over his "racist" stance on the Maori and internet-Mana parties.

"Yes you've got some Maori around you that want to listen to you and be subservient but at the end of the day, David Cunliffe, why do you have to stop others that want to work with them, why do you want to stop the Maori voice?"

A spokesman for Mr Cunliffe dismissed Mr Hikairo's mihi as a "political stunt".

Mr Cunliffe received a much warmer welcome earlier in the afternoon from about 300 party faithful at Panmure Bridge School where he spoke about the NZ Inc sovereign wealth fund plan he announced this morning.

His afternoon also saw whistlestop visits to Sylvia Park shopping centre where he posed for photos with cleaning staff and diners at the food court there before heading to Glenn Inness where he spoke to locals about their issues with state house tenancies.