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Destiny Church co-founder Hannah Tamaki says she met her goal of ousting Labor MP Tāmati Coffey from the Maori seat in Waiariki, even if she didn’t win.
It comes as the numbers show that Labor lost votes to fringe parties in its only losing seat on election night.
Waiariki was won by Rawiri Waititi of the Maori Party, the party’s only victory on the night, although this could be reversed once the special votes are posted.
But Waititi did not dramatically increase the Maori party’s share of the seat from 2017. In the end, it was Vision NZ’s candidate Tamaki and parties like Advance NZ that got the votes, which could end Coffey’s control. about the electorate.
She ranked third in the electorate, but said altering the result “was the goal.”
Supplied
Tāmati Coffey of Labor, Hannah Tamaki of Vision New Zealand and Rawiri Waititi of the Maori Party contested the Waiariki electorate.
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Tamaki said he was aware that he could not win the seat, which would be “delusional,” despite professing a desire to win in the campaign.
He said that Coffey had failed to meet the people of the electorate.
“As much as Tāmati is a lovely person, for me there was a lack of things to do … the task we had set ourselves was [to shoot] a little bullet in the arches … and we want our mahi to be recognized. “
The fact that he did not get a ministerial position was also disappointing to voters, given the size of the electorate, he said.
SUPPLIED / Stuff
Tāmati Coffey, awaiting a special vote recount after an election night defeat to Rawiri Waititi of the Maori party.
A comparison with the candidate’s preliminary vote from 2017 shows that it was probably a loss of votes for Coffey that left him out.
The 2017 elections in Waiariki were contested between only two candidates: Coffey and the head of the Maori Party, Te Ururoa Flavell. Coffey took his seat with a surprise victory.
This year, Maori party candidate Rawiri Waititi won the seat, covering the Bay of Plenty and South Waikato, by 415 votes. He and Coffey await the special vote count.
But while Waititi’s share of voters rose 1.4 percentage points, Coffey’s fell about 8 points as Labor bled the votes for new candidates.
ROBERT KITCHEN / THINGS / Things
Maori Party MP Rawiri Waititi on his first day in Parliament.
Tamaki was third with 4.1 points, 838 votes – enough, along with the number of other candidates, to deprive Coffey of the preliminary victory.
Tamaki, along with the Advance NZ candidates, the New Conservatives and The NZ Outdoors Party ate a total of 8.9 points.
The Maori Party maintained its support with its “two for one” mantra, with the Labor Party voting by majority. They were told that the Maori could include Labor MPs on the list anyway, along with electoral MPs from the Maori party.
Coffey will return to Parliament on the list.
Christel Yardley / Stuff
Hannah Tamaki won enough votes on election night to oust Waiariki incumbent Tāmati Coffey.
In 2016, Tamaki’s husband, Destiny Bishop Brian Tamaki, claimed that “homosexuals, murderers, and sinners” caused earthquakes. However, last year he apologized for years of offensive remarks about homosexuals.
Tamaki said the fact that Coffey was openly gay “has nothing to do” with his dissatisfaction with his job as a deputy.
“If you do the work, I don’t care what you do, it’s your private life. I choose to live my Christian faith and I do not force it on anyone else. “
Coffey said he would not comment on the election results until the special votes were counted and the result confirmed.
What about the specials?
There were around 4,700 Waiariki specials in 2017, representing 19.4 percent of the total. If that’s true this time around, there will be around 5,000 specials to count.
In 2017, special votes had little impact: Coffey’s lead was up 0.1% and Flavell’s down 0.1%.
This was a change of around 50 votes in total, far less than the gap of 415 on Election Night 2020.
However, there is no guarantee that this will hold for the 2020 elections.
By the numbers
In 2017, Coffey won 52.4 percent of the vote, his Maori party, and the only significant one, opponent Te Ururoa Flavell won 45.1.
This year, on election night, Coffey got 44.5 percent of the vote, while Waititi won 46.5 percent.
