Summarised by Centrist
Chris Hipkins says Labour is “getting onto a campaign footing” and wants Māori voters to back Labour directly, not Te Pāti Māori.
Speaking ahead of the party’s AGM, he made it clear Labour intends to contest all Māori electorates and does not see Te Pāti Māori as a future governing partner.
But current numbers say they would still need support from the Greens and Te Pāti Māori.
Hipkins said he believes Labour has changed enough since its 2023 defeat to win again and is already capitalising on public disillusionment with the coalition, pointing to IPSOS polling that has Labour ahead on cost of living, health, the economy and housing.
Despite still being too weak to govern without them, Hipkins has moved to politically isolate Te Pāti Māori. He said the party had “got themselves into a world of difficulty” and was “not in any fit shape to play a constructive role in the current Parliament, much less a future government”.
On that basis, Labour now plans to contest every Māori seat it previously lost.
“I know Māori voters want a change of government at the next election, and my message to them is, voting Labour guarantees you a change of government,” he said.
Hipkins also addressed the return of former minister Michael Wood, who failed to declare his Auckland Airport shares despite repeated warnings and became infamous for calling vaccine protesters a “river of filth”, saying Wood “needs to regain the trust of his electorate” and then “the trust of his colleagues” before any future role. Mt Roskill, long a Labour stronghold, lost only narrowly in 2023.
The party’s current policy platform centres on a New Zealand Future Fund, a gaming rebate, and a capital gains tax to fund three free GP visits and cervical screening.
