Labour's leadership has been hit by a shock last-minute entry, with Maori MP and David Cunliffe loyalist Nanaia Mahuta putting up her hand to take on what Labour itself admits are "three white blokes".
Ms Mahuta's entry keeps the Camp Cunliffe flames alive.
She's not white, she's not a bloke, and that's exactly why Ms Mahuta is running for Labour's leadership.
"The party is looking at a different way of doing things and I think I offer a difference," she says.
She is a last-minute, wildcard entry. She is Maori and a woman.
"It's really important that Labour is seen to be a party that is diverse in all its mixes, and what the front bench looks like is up to the leader," says Ms Mahuta. "Right now I'm saying, I'm putting my hand up."
All three leadership contenders are white men – Grant Robertson, David Parker and Andrew Little. Mr Little has been saying he wants a female deputy, effectively a man ban, though he doesn't like that term.
But former leader David Shearer says male voters are king.
"The people who walked away from Labour were middle New Zealanders – white blokes," says Mr Shearer.
Labour is hankering to what he calls "special interest groups".
"We keep hearing that if there's a white bloke then we need a woman or a Pasifika or a Maori standing for deputy," says Mr Shearer. "No, we should have the best person for the job. For heaven's sake, that's what New Zealanders want."
"It's important [that] Labour reconnects with a diverse group of New Zealanders who see us as a party of aspiration, and I believe it is," says Ms Mahuta.
Ms Mahuta is Mr Cunliffe's most loyal lieutenant, showing his faction is far from dead. Mr Cunliffe says he will not consider leaving Parliament, even though Mr Shearer told Mr Cunliffe to get out.
"I experienced him and his colleagues, who undermined and white-anted me," says Mr Shearer.
Mr Shearer says now that Mr Cunliffe has left the leadership race, he should quit Parliament altogether because Labour can do without him and his treachery.
"What happened to me should not happen to any other leader," says Mr Shearer. "There's a bit of utu, a bit of utu."
Ms Mahuta won't win. But she raises her profile as the anti-white bloke candidate. And of course with Mr Little looking for a female deputy, that job could be hers. It is a power play by the Camp Cunliffe power base. Anybody who thinks Mr Cunliffe is finished is wrong; as long as he is in Parliament, he is a danger.
3 News
source: newshub archive
