Mana candidate praises Key
October 10th, 2011 at 3:00 pm by David FarrarWell Hone’s party is certainly turning out to be a diverse one. Claire Trevett at NZ Herald reports:
The Mana Party’s new candidate for Tamaki Makaurau is a Ratana Church minister who once praised Prime Minister John Key as “a person who should be admired” – and still thinks Mr Key has done a good job.
Kereama Pene was confirmed as Mana’s candidate in the Tamaki Makaurau seat currently held by the Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples.
Last year, while welcoming Labour leader Phil Goff to the annual Ratana celebrations, Mr Pene praised Mr Key as “a brilliant speaker” and “a person who should be admired”.
Yesterday, Mr Pene said he stood by his comments about the PM.
“We’re in a recession right now, and I’ve got to think like the rest of the country that he has done a pretty good job.”
But it isn’t just John Key he praises.
Asked what Mana leader Hone Harawira would think of his view, given that he had walked away from the Maori Party because of his dislike of National, Mr Pene said: “National is actually the group that have done most of the great things for Maoridom over the last 20 years. You’ve got to give praise where it’s due.”
He said the Treaty settlements process, the Waitangi Tribunal and kohanga reo were all implemented under National.
All true.
Tags: John Key, Kereama Pene, Mana
October 10th, 2011 at 3:17 pm
He should stand for National, not Mana.
It is exactly right. National have always done the most for Maori and for the Pacific people.
Always.
Vote:October 10th, 2011 at 3:20 pm
what was Hone’s reaction to this outburst .. or hasn’t he asked his mum yet?
Vote:October 10th, 2011 at 3:25 pm
Worthy of note is that National have eight MP’s who can claim to be of Maori descent…..same as Labour but without the need for the inclusion of the racist Maori seats.
Vote:October 10th, 2011 at 4:01 pm
Regardless of what is done for Maori, it is never enough.
Vote:October 10th, 2011 at 4:06 pm
Nice to see some diversity of opinion in a party that has seemed so much like a one-man band at times.
Vote:October 10th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
Nice to see a person with a rational working brain in the Mana Party. The rest of them are trolley cases.
Vote:October 10th, 2011 at 4:40 pm
Lastmanstanding- He wouldn’t be involved with ‘Mana’ if he had a rational working brain….
Vote:October 10th, 2011 at 4:52 pm
Kereama Pene. Hmm, I shall have to keep an eye out for him.
Sounds like a smart guy. Good for him. Sanity pops up in the strangest of places.
Vote:October 10th, 2011 at 5:08 pm
Hmmmm, who is the other candidate in that seat who pro-key voters might be considering giving their vote to? Might Pene be trying to take votes off him, in the hope that a different candidate for the seat is successful?
Vote:October 10th, 2011 at 8:57 pm
Nice to see some diversity of opinion in a party that has seemed so much like a one-man band at times.
I’ve always thought that the Mana party has quite a wide diversity of opinions *within* it’s one-man band
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