As the votes roll in for the Māori electorates, it is clear that Aotearoa’s vision is one of change.
That means more Te Pāti Māori in Parliament and less Labour. Halfway through the count Te Pāti Māori is leading in Hauraki Waikato, Waiariki, Te Tai Hauāuru, , Te Tai Tonga and close in Te Tai Tokerau and Tāmaki Makaurau. Those last two electorates are now being expected to be decided in coming days by special votes.
Te Tai Tonga, the stronghold that has been Labour’s Rino Tirikatene for more than a decade, may not be his by the night’s end as Te Pāti Māori opponent Tākuta Ferris is giving his second crack a good run, leading with a 727 majority as 40.1% of the votes have been counted.
Tirikatene has acknowledged the polls, saying, “No one likes to confront these situations but it’s the reality of politics.
“At the end of the day, the people will speak and make their voices heard loud and clear but we will stay the course.”
Although Waiariki was always going to be Rawiri Waititi’s to win, confirmed moments ago in his victory speech, his fellow party co-leader and Te Tai Hauāuru candidate Debbie Ngarewa-Packer is likely to join him in Parliament as an electorate MP. She leads with a comfortable majority in the three thousands over Soraya Peke-Mason, with 43.4% of the vote counted.
Tight races
A nail-biting contest is continuing in Tāmaki Makaurau between Peeni Henare and first-timer Takutai Tarsh Kemp, with Henare maintaining a slight lead - albeit a very small margin between single and double digits The same can be said for Te Tai Tokerau between the king of the North, Labour’s Kelvin Davis, and Te Pāti Māori’s Mariameno Kapa-Kingi.
The electorate everyone has their eyes on is Hauraki Waikato’s race, which is being led by Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke over Labour’s veteran Nanaia Mahuta with a near-900 majority at 40.7% of the votes counted.
Ikaroa-Rawhiti would have made it a potential clean sweep for Te Pāti Māori, but former Labour-turned-Te Pāti Māori candidate Meka Whaitiri follows behind Labour’s Cushla Tangaere-Manuel by 1,635 votes.
Te Pāti Māori is currently tracking for a record party vote at 2.5%. The closest they have ever gotten to this was 2.39% in 2008, the second election they contested.
