Maori Party upset at Labour official’s statement

NZPA are running the following story:

The Maori Party says it is horrified by a Labour Party official’s reported remark that “Pakeha prefer to vote for white people with names they can pronounce”.

A Radio New Zealand report by its Pacific issues correspondent attributed the remark to Labour’s women’s vice president Kate Sutton.

It also reported her as saying Labour took that preference into account when it selected candidates for local body elections.

Maori Party MP Te Ururoa Flavell said it was “outright racism” to select candidates on that basis.

“If that was the case, I probably wouldn’t have made the grade,” he said.

“Nor would my friend Tariana Turia, or even perhaps Hone Harawira.”

Mr Flavell suggested the Labour Party should explain why its candidate selection process seemingly prioritised white people with names that could be easily pronounced.

This may explain why the NZ Labour Party has no Welsh MPs – they couldn’t pronounce their names!