In a bold departure, Labor’s Peeni Henare is bidding for the top health post

Labor Peeni Henare is not keeping his interest in being the next health minister secret.

It’s a bold departure from the usual “wait and see” approach taken by other MPs lined up for the new government.

Sharing a photo of himself in the gym on Instagram this week, Henare wrote: “Many of the new MPs have asked me for advice on how to work in Parliament and the advice for all of them is the same. Take care of your well-being! I like to go to the gym. It allows me to clear my mind along with the added benefits of exercise. “

During his 15 months as associate health minister, “he really appreciated the challenge for our whānau and also the opportunities to solve it,” he said.

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“That is why I raised my hand for the main job. We can change many statistics with positive changes, reform of the system and investment. I am always inspired by people like Dave Letele, Tiare Tāwera and so many others who share their knowledge and wisdom to change the lives of many of our whānau. “

As associate health minister for the last term, Henare was not in the cabinet, but had to navigate Whānau Ora, civil defense disasters, and establish a new Maori health authority.

This is not the first time that Henare has expressed an interest in the main health position. While he was locked up in Tāmaki Makaurau, rather than Wellington, where most of the daily Covid-19 briefings were held, he said he spent time talking with Maori medical experts and iwi leaders about how to better serve “our whānau. ”.

In the run-up to the elections, he told the media that he would like to be Minister of Health and reform the system to better suit Maori.

In a post-election interview with Māori Television, Labor MP Hauraki-Waikato Nanaia Mahuta said she supported Henare for the ministerial post. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern should be bold and appoint a Maori MP to be health minister, she said.

Henare added: “Decisions have to be made, but I made that clear during the campaign and that is recognizing the inequalities that we are all familiar with, and I believe that with strong Maori leadership we can really improve our system. . “

But when asked for Stuff To comment on Henare’s offer for the health portfolio, Mahuta, along with Deputy Labor Party Leader Kelvin Davis, referred all questions to the Prime Minister’s Office. Henare also did not respond to Stuff requests for comments.

A spokeswoman for the prime minister said he does not comment on cabinet appointments before decisions are made and that his office would not comment on whether members of the Maori caucus were being considered for key ministerial portfolios.

Maori Party co-leader John Tamihere, who lost his bid for a seat in Parliament to Henare on the Tāmaki Makaurau seat, supported his rival’s public offer for the portfolio.

Tamihere served as the cabinet’s labor minister from 2002 to 2005 and said there was a lot of public lobbying for a cabinet position in her time.

“Not going openly for a particular portfolio, but warning that you are raising your hand to be in the cabinet,” he said. “They should put it, I like the boy. I think it has many promises.

“He has spent three years as an associate minister, he has done the apprenticeship, and his grandfather’s father would be extremely proud to be appointed minister.”

Henare hails from an illustrious Maori dynasty. His great-great-grandfather was Taurekareka (Tau) Henare, a Maori member of Parliament from 1914 to 1938, his great-uncle was Sir James Henare, Ngāpuhi leader and commanding officer of the Maori Battalion, and more recently his cousin Tau Henare served as a First National Deputy. and New Zealander in recent years.

Tamihere said that with Labor able to rule alone, six slots will open up at the cabinet table normally reserved for coalition partners.

In the last government, Davis and Mahuta held cabinet positions, while Henare and Maori MP Willie Jackson held positions outside of cabinet.

“We deserve five in the current cabinet, and then we deserve four or five in the external cabinet,” Tamihere said.

“That gives the current Maori caucus government-wide scope to protect desperately needed Maori interests across government. There is room for three more appointments within the cabinet and four to five outside the cabinet, and they can be associate or incumbent ministers outside the cabinet. “

Tamihere said members of the Maori caucus should be in portfolios where Maori had the greatest need.

“We need the Māori associate finance minister because you have to follow the money, they have always left us out,” he said. “We need a minister in charge of Economic Development, we have to move away from Maori affairs and look at welfare, health and housing because that is where our greatest situation is.”

Labor received overwhelming support from Maori, with more than 60 percent voting for the party. It now has at least 15 Maori MPs.

There is little Maori representation in the opposition seats, although the Act has at least two Maori MPs.