Labour will today announce Cushla Tangaere-Manuel as its candidate for Ikaroa- Rāwhiti. Photo / Facebook
OPINION
Labour will name former East Coast Rugby CEO Cushla Tangaere-Manuel as its candidate to take on Meka Whaitiri, who jumped waka from Labour to join Te Pāti Māori for the 2023 election, sources say.
Tangaere-Manuel’s confirmation today will end weeks of speculation and conjecture from political adversaries that Labour could not find suitable and willing people prepared to stand against Whaitiri whose resignation as a cabinet minister from the government in May forced Labour into a quick race to find a replacement.
Names being touted as potential candidates included whānau of former Ikaroa-Rāwhiti stalwart Parekura Horomia, to the Māori Development Minister and Labour Māori caucus co-chair Willie Jackson, who has whakapapa to the region.
As Labour breathes a sign of relief by naming its candidate, Tangaere-Manuel will know she will be in for a real scrap to beat Whaitiri, who has held the electorate as a Labour MP since 2013.
But in Tangaere-Manuel, Labour has found a more than worthy candidate and someone who is not afraid to get her hands dirty for the Labour cause and to its strong vice-like hold on Ikaroa-Rāwhiti, as she has shown for her mahi for Ngati Porou East Coast.
Like Whaitiri, Tangaere-Manuel is well known in Ikaroa-Rāwhiti. Plus many in the electorate still believe Whaitiri’s defection to Te Pāti Māori could have been handled with more mana and dignity.
Tangaere-Manuel spent nine years as chief executive of Ngati Porou East Coast - the smallest region in the domestic rugby championship - taking the team from a position of being on the brink of bankruptcy to one with an annual surplus.
Along with cementing East Coast’s rugby future, she has also been instrumental in developing the region’s youth rugby competition, putting East Coast Ngati Porou in a strong position for the future.
Tangaere-Manuel joined the New Zealand Māori Rugby Board in 2020.
She was head girl at Ngata Memorial College and her professional background, before she took up her pivotal role in NPEC rugby, was as a journalist in TV and radio.
Labour sources said Tangaere-Manuel was an exceptional candidate.
“Labour are over the moon that a person of Cushla’s calibre will retain the stronghold we have on Ikaroa-Rāwhiti,” one source said.
