Māori Party call for support

Tēnā tātou e te iwi o Ngāruahine i tēnēi wā o puanga

He uri tēnei o Aotea waka - Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāruahine, Ngā Rauru. Ko Debbie Ngarewa-Packer ahau.

As iwi of Taranaki we united to protect our whakapapa during the COVID-19 pandemic, and I couldn’t be more proud of how we worked together – whether it was establishing checkpoints, or disturbing kai and sanitation packs, or setting up our 0800 iwi helpline, or lobbying the DHB and the Crown for increased testing and support.

I am calling on us to hold on to that kotahitanga and stay united to face our other challenges together – the climate crisis and the protection of our taiao, inequity and poverty and the struggle for our rights as tangata whenua to be upheld.

To take on those challenges we need to be heard in Wellington. We have been without a Māori Party voice in parliament for too long, and we have been without a Taranaki Māori leader in parliament even longer. This year we have an opportunity to change that and so as an uri, I am humbly asking for your support at the general election on the 19th of September.

I grew up in the shadow of muru raupatu and the Pātea freezing works closure among whānau who refused to let that define them and created the hit ‘Poi E’. Our whānau committed to an aggressive strategy of getting us educated, which ended up with me as an adult student at University of Tasmania and Stanford University. Our kaumātua and tūpuna instilled in me the belief that we should keep striving and finding ways to

improve the wellbeing of not just our whānau, but all whānau.

In my early career I set up small businesses as a single mum and went on to serve in a wide variety of roles, including as CEO of our iwi radio, Te Korimako o Taranaki, and as Deputy Mayor of South Taranaki District Council. As many of you will know, I currently serve Ngāti Ruanui as Kaiarataki and have worked over the last six years to protect our moana from seabed mining.

I live in a three-generational home with my tāne, Neil Packer (Ngāruahine, Ngāti Kuia and Ngāti Apa), our son Pawhare, daughter Hannah, son-in-law Jordan and mokopuna Hekaiaha and River. We’re on tūpuna land that once was confiscated. We have chooks and sheep and an orchard. It’s a simple life – and it’s a full house with lots of love and lots of looking after each other.

Our people put me forward to stand for Te Tai Hauāuru because we need someone who will fight for our whānau, our whenua and our wai – to carry forward the kaupapa of whaea Tariana and those who have gone before. We must bring about equity and justice, and the sharing of power, so that our rangatahi never have to feel prejudice against them or deal with systems that don’t allow them to succeed.

It was such an honour to have the support of many of you at my campaign launch at Pariroa Pā, and to receive so many apologies from people who were keen to come but had other kaupapa on. I was also privileged to recently attend a hui with Ngāruahine kaumātua, and I want to make sure I continue to connect with you all and support your kaupapa in whatever ways I can. Please feel welcome to get in touch with me anytime on Facebook or at tth.maoriparty@gmail.com.

At these elections, the Māori Party is campaigning on a platform of policies that seeks to restore oranga tangata and oranga whenua. At Pariroa I launched our climate change policy that will support our region and Aotearoa to transition away from the oil and gas sector and synthetic fertilizers towards clean technology, renewable energy, and regenerative agriculture. We’ve also released our Whānau First and Freshwater policies, with more to come.

We are asking you to Believe in You, Believe in Me, Believe in Māori. We need to believe in our own capacity to drive our own solutions and lead our own development and political advancement.

Our vision is for an Aotearoa where we are free to exercise our mana motuhake, where our people can thrive as our true selves, where we have enough to put kai on the table, and where live in harmony with Papatūānuku, Tangaroa and our atua, and where our whānau are put first.

Nāku nei

Debbie Ngarewa-Packer

Māori Party Co-leader, Candidate for Te Tai Hauāuru