“We are here again and never will we be oppressed again.”
Strong words from the probable new Hauraki-Waikato MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, who says she is content with the work the Te Pāti Māori has done in this election campaign.
Later long-serving MP Nanaia Mahuta sombrely conceded the seat to the new MP and warned her the blue wave would make it a challenging time.
“I want to mihi to you and I give you encouragement for the gains we have made in Haruraki-Waikato are really important . I want you to know you have my support for your aspirations to put Hauraki-Waikato front and centre because we have gone too far to go backwards and that means locking in all the thingd we all fought for and that means Māori wards around the council tables, looking after working people and the kainga kore (homeless), making sure that all the rangathi you have been advocating for can lift up so they can take it further. Kia kaha . It’s not going to be easy.”
Maipi-Clarke who will become the youngest MP for the last 170 years says her campaign was about babies, kura kaupapa and kohanga reo.
And she said she would never be able to thank her friends enough. “They picked me up at the worst moments.”
They greeted her tonight with a triumphant haka.
In recent weeks Maipi-Clarke has complained about attacks on hoardings and burglaries. Other female candidates have also reported attacks on social media.
Mahuta has been in Parliament since 1996, when she was first elected as the MP for Hauraki-Waikato. She is the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Associate Minister for Māori Development.
Mahuta is the longest-serving Māori woman in Parliament, and is also the first Maori woman to hold the position of foreign mMinister.
The late Whetū Tirikātene-Sullivan will remain the longest serving Wāhine Māori politician at 29 years.