Police protection for Maori leader Turia being considered

Tariana Turia

Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia hopes to make a decision within a week over whether she will seek police protection following an email death threat signed "Maori killer".

It was not the first death threat Mrs Turia had received but she would give it and another abusive email to the police, she said.

Mrs Turia said had discussed the threats with Corporate Risk, the security firm that discovered the phone in her ministerial home appeared to have been interfered with, and they believed she had been "rather casual" about it.

"...they are going to work with us to look at a risk assessment of what happened, back then when my house was interfered with," she told National Radio.

"We're expecting this week to meet with Corporate Risk and I imagine that by the end of the week, or early next week, we'll make a decision about whether it's police protection or whether we'll continue with having people who have voluntarily been providing me with that type of support, since I became the leader."

Police were investigating the latest "Maori killer" email and Mrs Turia said it should not be hard for them to find the culprit. It said: "Burn in hell u Maori nigger," and arrived last Tuesday night.

National leader Don Brash has round-the-clock Diplomatic Protection Squad (DPS) protection following death threats over his Orewa speech.
However, Mrs Turia hoped should would not have to follow suit.

"I guess I've never allowed these things to frighten me, because you can't work if you're frightened," she said.

The emails and letters follow other threatening situations including having the backdoor of her home smashed, a bullet thrown through a toilet window, and food thrown at her garage.

Mrs Turia said she called police over the bullet "because that did send a shiver up our spines".

Prime Minister Helen Clark, en route to the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Laos, yesterday told NZPA deaths threats were not a rarity in politics.

Death threats were unacceptable and had no place in politics but she also noted the story emerged at the same time as the Maori Party conference.

"As one who receives a number a year, you would note I would never talk about them...This seems to be attention-seeking behaviour."

Labour MP Dover Samuels, of Te Tai Tokerau, said Mrs Turia was "jumping up and down and saying 'feel sorry for me because I got a death threat"'.

"Most Members of Parliament actually get these type of garbage letters every day," Mr Samuels told National Radio.

"As Maori MPs, we've certainly had our fair share in terms of the foreshore and seabed debate in its process through the Parliament."

However, they did not go appealing to party members for sympathy, he said.

"We don't flash it at our conference and say 'feel sorry for me, I've got this letter from these people, blah, blah, blah', and try and get some sympathy from the public'."

- NZPA