Tommy Wilson: What will the cost be of Winston as kingmaker?

What role will Winston Peters play after September 23? Photo/File

Have we as a country had enough with our leaders?

It is a question asked by Winston but answered by woman voters, who are voting with their high heels and heading to the polling booths with a newfound faith in their female leaders.

That the writing is on the wall for the old boys club and all across the mirrors of inequality for women is a message layered on thick with a bright red lashing of lipstick.

While the political analysts and know-it-all pollsters were picking a youth quake of new voters would shake the country to its senses, it turns out we seem to have had enough of men running the show, and now we have a wave of wahine saying enough is enough.

Up and down the land of the lads in charge for way too long, women are clearly saying we want change - and we want it made by our woman leaders.

For those parties who have a woman leader, Labour and Maori Party - or who had one up until recently like the Greens who could have one back quicker than you can say greenhouse gases - there is a better than good chance these three parties could be in charge of the country in three weeks' time.

The prophesised youth quake shaking the polls did not happen. They have not registered and now it is the wave of wahine, especially the middle-aged mums, who are backing their own and surging toward the polling booths.

If women have had enough where does this leave Winston?

Will he put himself or New Zealand first? Does he have more than one term left in the tank before he has had enough, and where will NZ First be without their founding father?

Sure, he has a legion of loyal supporters but is it loyalty to a person or a party, and is that loyalty more about not being able to let go to a romanticised infatuation with the dapper days of a pinstriped politician whose charm could whip the cream off a homemade scone?

Some say it is all about having him as the Maori that non-Maori want to see on "their" side.

Whatever it is, a look down memory lane unearths a lot of kia tu pato (caution) for me and many other Maori voters.

When you take a walk past the flash NZ First base in downtown Tauranga, you get a snapshot of who can't get enough of Winston. It is very much a window into God's waiting room and on the last four drive-bys and walk-pasts, I have not seen a single Maori inside the waiting room.

Now is the hour to consider these costs, and the only guideline is to look forward to the days and weeks after the final votes are counted and the chaos sets in, as it did in 2008 when the same scenario we are facing today kicked in with Winitana as kingmaker.

Utu runs red in the blood of ousted politicians, none more so than when Winston was removed from the high life of the highest office in 2008.

What we do know is he has openly stated he will get rid of the Maori seats and holds no hope in anything kaupapa Maori including te reo, Te Tiriti settlements and, as for whanau ora, he has had enough of that as well.

All of these taonga (treasures) are feathers of a visionary future, sewn into our country's korowai (cloak) for all of us to wear, both Maori and non-Maori together.

If there is to be any post-election lipstick plastered by Winston, it will be on the silky-smooth purse strings if he gets hold of Treasury, and not on the sow's ear.

We know what is in it for him if he gets in and gets hold of the purse strings - so what is in it for Maori?

For those of us who are looking for a kaupapa Maori politician, we have a choice between kingmaker (NZ First) or Kingitanga (Maori Party), and it all comes down to where we place our party vote.

If New Zealand, especially the women, have had enough of National, and Jacinderella fits the slipper of the silver lining for our long white cloud, we all need to ask the question - at what cost will it come having Winston as kingmaker?

Kia tu pato Aotearoa.

tommykapai@gmail.com

Tommy Kapai is a best-selling local author and writer.