Minto on Mana Party and opposing Brash

  • Breaking
  • 15/05/2011

As Hone Harawira's Mana Party starts to take shape, the latest name to be associated with the party is veteran activist John Minto.

Mr Harawira has confirmed that he will be inviting Mr Minto to join the Mana Party for the general election.

The political activist spoke about the Mana Party’s policies, direction, and whether or not he’ll be joining on Firstline this morning.

He has previously turned down three offers to join political parties and despite being unsure whether political activists can be more effective inside or outside Parliament he does support the Mana Party’s policies.

“The policies they're pushing... are policies that would be great for me and for my kids and my grandchildren, whereas I think the policies being pushed by Don Brash and the National party are going to destroy opportunities for our kids in the future.”

Mr Minto says he doesn’t believe the Mana Party is just for Maori, saying that while it represents Maori it “actually has the values that I think a big chunk of New Zealanders would support”.

A longtime friend of Mr Harawira, Mr Minto says the Mana Party leader does have a “really brash side to him”, but is what working class New Zealanders need.

“I think that with Hone there, every working New Zealander and their family should be proud that here is someone that is leading a party that's really going to defend their rights... and push forward to get a better deal for working families.”

If Mr Minto does decide to join the Mana Party for the November election, he will represent New Zealand’s low and middle wage earners.

“We’ve got a resurgent Don Brash with a massive amount of money behind him pushing this ACT political line which will send… low and middle income earners even further backwards than before,” he said.

“I really think New Zealanders have to stand up and fight this one.”

Watch the video for the full interview

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source: newshub archive