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He was down and out of Parliament, but the Maori Party has marked a spectacular return to political life when its two MPs deliver their opening speeches.
Co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi are speaking in Parliament after returning from the political grave.
ROBERT KITCHEN / Things
Maori Party co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer in the Parliament building. (archive)
Labor swept all Maori electorates in the 2017 elections, in a victory that propelled the Maori Party, which then included Te Ururoa Flavell and Marama Fox, from Parliament.
This year, under then-co-leaders John Tamihere and Ngarewa-Packer, the party ran candidates across all seven seats, with Waititi winning in Waiariki, which covers the Bay of Plenty and South Waikato.
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In the end, it was the only seat Labor lost in the 2020 election.
Ngarewa-Packer, who remained unsuccessfully at Te Tai Hauāuru, covering Tirau to Porirua, entered the list after the special votes were counted.
The party was able to gather enough party votes after executing a strategy to remind Maori voters that they could independently include their Labor candidate on that party’s list.
ROBERT KITCHEN / Things
Maori Party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer delivered her inaugural address in Parliament.
