Sykes compares Dotcom raid to Urewera 'terror raids'

Labour Party Waiariki candidate Rawiri Waititi said it was an insult to compare the "injustices of Tuhoe and Ruatoki to what's happened to Kim Dotcom" (above). Photo / APN

Prominent Maori-rights activist and Mana Party candidate for Waiariki Annette Sykes has compared the Tuhoe "terror raids" to the raid on Kim Dotcom's Coatesville mansion.

Ms Sykes made the comments to about 60 First Union members at a meeting in Whakatane on Wednesday in response to a question from a union delegate about the party's association with Mr Dotcom.

"The whole community was shut down and there were children rounded up in garages, and that's what happened to Dotcom's wife and his kids," Ms Sykes said.

She saw parallels between the Tuhoe raids and those on Mr Dotcom and his family.

Ms Sykes said Mr Dotcom got an apology almost immediately from the Government but it had taken seven years for the Crown to apologise to Tuhoe.

"Those people at Ruatoki were unlawfully detained and there was a clear finding, like Dotcom's case, that there was unlawful entry in terms of the search and surveillance warrants that were issued."

Labour Party Waiariki candidate Rawiri Waititi interjected, saying it was an insult to compare the "injustices of Tuhoe and Ruatoki to what's happened to Dotcom, and I'm not going to buy into it".

Mr Waititi said the Tuhoe people voiced concerns about the comparison and said they "do not like that type of korero".

Ms Sykes wanted to know who those people were because she hadn't come across them. She said to Mr Waititi she was "Tuhoe too, bro".

After the meeting, some union members said they found the debate and information from the candidates helpful.

"It was my first time at a stop-work meeting so it was really good because we got to learn about the different parties and the union," 24-year-old Farmers retail assistant Danielle Moore said.

Union members were positive about seeing the parties of the left working together this election to change the Government, said First Union retail finance and commerce divisional secretary Maxine Gay.

"These workers were clear they wanted to see an end to the policies of National and its coalition partners and an end to the politics of inequality," she said.

Ms Sykes said the Mana Party would take a stand for workers' rights by introducing a $20 minimum living wage and time and a half for overtime.

Matt Ogilvie is an AUT journalism student.

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