National's "mixed ownership model" - the innocuous-sounding
vehicle tasked with making the party's unpopular
privatisation agenda more appetising - paradoxically may yet
end up making the partial sell-offs of state corporations
even less palatable to voters.
The Maori Party's Pita Sharples has been re-elected as the
party's co-leader after fellow MP Te Ururoa Flavell told the
party he was unwilling to challenge Dr Sharples for the
position.
Developing Whanau Ora, a ministerial committee on poverty and
a new focus for Te Puni Kokiri are the centrepiece of an
agreement reached yesterday between National and the Maori
Party on confidence and supply.
The Maori Party hui over a proposed confidence and supply
agreement with National began last night but ministerial
positions would not be discussed, Maori Party president Pem
Bird told The New Zealand Herald.
Despite a battering at the polls, Maori Party leaders will
today push John Key for more than "short-term gains" as the
party seeks to solidify its position in the National-led
Government.
The Otago Daily Times is profiling the region's
electorates, the candidates, and the issues in the lead-up to
this month's general election. Reporter Eileen Goodwin takes
a look at Te Tai Tonga.
