Only Kelvin can win
May 27th, 2011 at 2:00 pm by David Farrar
Trevor Mallard blogs:
It has become clear over the last couple of weeks that only Kelvin Davis can beat Hone Harawira. The Maori Party want him out of parliament even more than we do. That might explain their choice of a low profile candidate yesterday. As the Herald said :-
…. old party launched Solomon Tipene’s bid to win the Te Tai Tokerau byelection.
The great-grandfather was the surprise pick for the Maori Party, which also interviewed lawyer Mere Mangu and actor Waihoroi Shortland, tipped by many in the north as the frontrunner.
I agree with Trevor and the Herald that the selection of Tipene is a surprise and the other two candidates were much higher profile. It may well be that the Maori Party are being tactical here.
So if you don’t want John Hart Minto to become an MP on the coat tails of Hone Harawira, you need to back Kelvin Davis to win. Even if you do not live in the electorate, you can make a donation to help Kelvin in his campaign. The details are:
Kiwibank Account No 38 9009 0235341 01
New Zealand Labour Party – Te Tai Tokerau LEC
Just make sure you mark it as a donation in the reference field for Internet Banking, so you don’t accidentially become a Labour Party member 
May 27th, 2011 at 2:48 pm
How does that saying go? ……”The enemy of my enemy, is my friend”
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 2:48 pm
I’d be very happy for John Hart to be an MP, though I suspect he would probably be a Nat.
I think you mean John Minto from HART…..
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 2:53 pm
Whatever it takes to avoid making the loathsome John Minto a MP.
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 3:01 pm
“So if you don’t want John Hart to become an MP on the coat tails of Hone Harawira, you need to back Kelvin Davis to win. ”
How long are you intending to punish the man for Dublin in 1991? It was all Grizz’s fault, anyway … !
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 3:08 pm
Well, I’ll never forgive John Hart for his performance at the ’99 World Cup semifinal so I think DPF is right to be wary of how he’ll go as an MP.
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 3:19 pm
Kenneth Mhair is the Maori Party co-pres so it will be good to see him take yet another hit at elections. He is poison to voters everywhere about everything
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 3:22 pm
Isn’t this jumping to conclusions about the real state of affairs in Te Tai Tokerau? Maybe DPF has insight here that I lack. I admit mine is very limited. But taking Trevor’s word for it???
Vote:Because Tipene is not known to us it does not follow that he is not well-known to Northland Maori. Nor that he may not appeal to the voters there.
Maybe those who support Hone are merely a very loud but small minority? I don’t know. Do you?
May 27th, 2011 at 3:26 pm
Apart from anything else, is it really going to do Kelvin Davis any favours with the Maori Roll voters of Tai Tokerau if right-wing Whitey is funding his campaign?
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 4:07 pm
At least Hart got us to the semi. It’s John Mitchell who must be kept from entering parliament at all costs!!
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 4:12 pm
Probably better if Hone wins. Gives the people of Te Tai Tokerau a few months before the general election to take stock and come to the realisation the total arse they have voted in and reward him accordingly in the GE.
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 4:18 pm
Voting for labour is not “the only” to stop minto becoming an MP David, you lack imagination… and the possesion of certain “items”.
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 4:18 pm
Why isn’t Robbie Deans ever picked on? He was co-coach under Mitchell was he not? Somehow the opprobrium Teflon’d off him. As nothing at sticks to him, he’d be perfect for a SI electorate surely.
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 4:28 pm
Oh jesus christ what is up with these stupid names? Your parents really named you Jonothan Quintus Publius did they?
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 4:29 pm
Is there any reason why people living in the Te Tai Tokerau boundaries shouldn’t move from the general to the Maori roll for the by-election?
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 4:35 pm
Keep your hair on Muzza, it’s only a nom de plume. Google it if you’re unclear.
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 4:38 pm
Why is your job at the UN in jepody if you’re caught blogging? Onager inflatus.
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 4:39 pm
John Hart vs the Grizz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J7MA_6qh6k
Vote:Many great classic match-ups: B Deans vs Kirk, R Deans vs Fox, Atkins Vs Buck, W. Smith vs Fox, Hobbs Vs Hayden, Taylor vs Smoking Joe. Teenager JK. A classic match in any era.
May 27th, 2011 at 4:44 pm
Oh I see now, you’re one of those.
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 4:44 pm
John Mitchel doesn’t do election campaigns; just “the journey” …
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 5:02 pm
Graham Henry, judged by his own standards, is the worst All Black coach of the last 25 years.
Lochore won it, Mains was in the final, all the others, except Henry made it as least as far as a semi.
Wylie would have won it if he hadn’t been hamstrung by Hart who repeated his hopelessness when he didn’t have Wylie to cover for him.
So there.
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 5:04 pm
Kelvin Davis is the only candidate that the Maori electorate should support if they want to retain any level of broad respect.
Vote:Kelvin is rock solid, has his heart (not HART) in the right place, and will deliver for the electorate. I just wish he was standing for National in a winnable seat for National.
May 27th, 2011 at 5:11 pm
PM – we will be better off if good candidates win for all parties. Labour badly needs something rock solid…but not in their strategists heads.
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 5:28 pm
“So if you don’t want John Minto to become an MP on the coat tails of Hone Harawira, you need to back Kelvin Davis to win”
Relevance of the above statement in a by-election?
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 5:37 pm
“Is there any reason why people living in the Te Tai Tokerau boundaries shouldn’t move from the general to the Maori roll for the by-election?”
Well, you’d have to be Maori. And then you still couldn’t: http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1993/0087/latest/DLM308838.html?search=ts_act_electoral+act_resel&p=1#DLM308838
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 5:42 pm
Now we all know the track record for by elections, labour supporters can’t be bothered going out to vote, no bribes to pick up so Davis ain’t gonna save you souls.
Reckon it will be Hone by a big margin.
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 8:42 pm
“Is there any reason why people living in the Te Tai Tokerau boundaries shouldn’t move from the general to the Maori roll for the by-election?”
The option to switch between the general and Maori electoral rolls is only available after each census. Had Key not cancelled the census this year, general voters would have been able to switch.
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 9:00 pm
AG>Well, you’d have to be Maori. And then you still couldn’t
Thanks AG. But surely being Maori is something that is up to an individual to decide for themself. I presume there isn’t a DNA test, or a precise definition of what a Maori is?
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 9:40 pm
You have to give some justification like saying which tribe you are from but they don’t investigate, so pretty much anyone can go on the Maori roll if they are willing to lie on the form if they don’t have Maori ancestry.
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 10:04 pm
If the by-election reveals that Harawira’s grip on Te Tai Tokerau is indeed strong, then the most effective way to stop John Minto from entering parliament is to encourage Maori electorate voters to vote for the Mana candidate. If the Mana Party win 3 electorates and 2% of the vote for e.g., there will be no list MPs. On the other hand, if the Mana Party get 2% of the vote and only Hone wins an electorate, Minto could make it on the list.
Vote:May 27th, 2011 at 11:03 pm
My understanding is that if you ‘feel’ like a Maori (not in the Staus-Kahn sense) then you can register on the Maori roll.
Vote:May 28th, 2011 at 3:00 am
If Minto becomes an MP I leave New Zealand. I saw him screaming abuse at players/administrators/Spectators and, of course, police through his beloved megaphone at the women’s tennis classic a couple of years ago. He had about twelve smelly misguided ‘University activist’ types hanging off every word like a transplanted brainwashed Manson family…
Vote:This guy has been thriving off the legend that he singlehandedly sparked the beginning of the end of apartheid in 81. This is of course, utter bullshit. The guy is a feral dropkick who knows nothing but narrowmindedness, hatred and protest. Vote Davis!
May 28th, 2011 at 6:21 am
Shazza
My understanding is that the deal struck between Hone and the Maori Party was that he wouldn’t run Mana candidates in the Maori electorates (other than his own of course) and so all the action with respect to Mana is who is No 2 or 3 on their list and at what level of party votes will they pull in the General Election. Remember Hone is trying to craft a new party of the left and not just a left version of the MP hence the involvement of the white radicals like Minto and Bradford.
David’s tactic is 100% spot on – the way to kill off this nascent party is for all non Hone voters to unite behind Kelvin Davis. The MP candidate selection is a tacit quiet way of their strategists encouraging this. Don’t forget Turia and Sharples and the MP strategists have been planning on a future sans Harewira for some time and so have long written off Tai Tokerau as one of their electorates. They’d far rather deal with Davis as a junior member of Labour’s caucus than have Hone’s beligerent visage back in Parliament along with an extremist like Minto.
Vote:May 28th, 2011 at 1:45 pm
“Shazza
My understanding is that the deal struck between Hone and the Maori Party was that he wouldn’t run Mana candidates in the Maori electorates (other than his own of course) and so all the action with respect to Mana is who is No 2 or 3 on their list and at what level of party votes will they pull in the General Election.”
That agreement is long dead now, as evidenced by the Maori Party contesting the by-election. Both parties have claimed that the other have broken the agreement. I expect we will see Mana candidates in most, if not all of the Maori electorates.
Vote: