Waipareira Trust chief executive and president of Te Pāti Māori John Tamihere has clapped back after an inquiry was published around the investigation that personal information obtained by providers linked to Manurewa Marae was misused.
He called it a “witch hunt” on Māori in particular the Māori at Manurewa marae and Te Pāti Māori candidates.
“If there was clear evidence, we’d cop it, but when you’ve had all the king’s horses and all the king’s men come together and try to get the Māoris and they haven’t been able to come up with one skerrick of evidence, of wrongdoing.
“It was a witch hunt and we’re getting sick and tired of being targeted solely because we are the tangata whenua here,” Tamihere said.
The investigation focused on allegations that data shared with health and social service providers linked to Manurewa Marae for Census 2023 and COVID-19 vaccinations was misused, potentially benefiting Te Pāti Māori in the Tāmaki Makaurau electorate. While the providers denied the allegations, the inquiry found serious lapses in data protection and conflict-of-interest management by agencies such as Statistics New Zealand, the Ministry of Health, and Health New Zealand.
Te Pāti Māori and the marae have now been cleared of any wrongdoing.
The Waipareira Trust chief executive added the allegations made last year were to make Māori look bad.
“The allegation is, is that all these Natives are an organised crime group looking to rort elections.
“I struggle, all the time, with the emphasis solely on hunting the Māori population and looking through a microscope on them onto how we can blaggard them and ruin their reputation,” he told Te Ao Māori News.
Tamihere said any bad publicity for his party isn’t bad for them.
“So the bad press, our people understand it and they’ll rally to support us cause they’ve been treated badly as well.”
