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| Marama Davidson and Metiria Turei. ©John Chapman 2013 |
The Greens have just announced that they have selected Marama Davidson to be their candidate in the Ikaora-Rāwhiti by-election. This is big news and very welcome news for those of us who were hoping for a strong Green candidate in the by-election. Marama Davidson’s candidacy throws a real spanner in the works, and I think there will be a tough contest among the Greens, Mana and Māori parties to see who will emerge as Labour’s strongest opposition in the electorate.
I’m a Green, so I will be proudly supporting, and campaigning for, Marama in this by-election. Marama has all the skills and profile to elucidate the Greens vision in the communities of Te Tai Rāwhiti.
One of the main reasons I joined the Greens in 2009 is because the underpinning of Greens policy and values is an understanding that as humans we are all inter-connected to each other and to our economy and to our natural environment. This understanding is also the foundation of my Māoritanga. As uri of Tānemāhuta and before him Ranginui and Papatuānuku we are by whakapapa connected and completely reliant on the natural environment as it sustains gives us our place to stand as tangata whenua, literally people of the land.
This is why the Greens have so much potential in the Māori seats and in this Te Tai Rāwhiti by-election. Many realize that Green values, values like social justice, human rights, compassion, kaitiakitanga, mana wāhine and a reverence for the natural world are values that most Māori share and history has proven that the Greens operate with these values at the forefront of their analysis and policy.
What Marama Davidson will bring, is an ability to communicate these values and the Green vision to a whole new cohort of people and to an electorate that hasn't had a Green candidate since Bevan Tipene-Matua passed away at the young age of 40. She is the kind of person who can inspire and bring out the best in others. Her campaign could help change the face of Māori politics as we know it.
In Marama's own words, "I believe Māori women are kaitiaki for our people and for Papatūānuku, yet we are often scrambling to be heard." This is a key point. Marama brings a perspective as a mother that the most of the other candidates are unable to do. If Labour don't select Whaitiri, then Marama will be the only woman in the race.
With a field of strong candidates, this by-election is set to be very interesting.
Post by Jack Tautokai McDonald
Post by Jack Tautokai McDonald
Jack - did the Green Party membership vote on the candidate? Or was it imposed by the leadership/head office?
ReplyDeleteAs I understand, the local membership along with Executive representatives interviewed Marama and selected her. As it is a by-election the Executive has a good deal of oversight and involvement in the whole process, from deciding to stand to selection in accordance with our constitution. But Marama was (to my knowledge) the favorite of everyone in the party.
ReplyDeleteJust to clarify - the Greens are relentlessly democratic - there is simply no way for the leadership to impose a candidate. The leadership answers to the membership, not the other way around. The ONLY way for Marama to have been selected was by the local branch of the party electing her by secret ballot. I think they made an excellent decision. :-)
ReplyDeleteTrue, but sometimes informal pressures are brought to bear.
DeleteRe: Leadership and Marama's selection. This is just like the Tui Ad: Yeah Right!
ReplyDeleteI fail to see why you're making anonymous, baseless claims about the selection process. Do you know something we don't?
Deleteisn't she mana?
ReplyDeleteNah, fully Green. She's friends with plenty of Mana affiliated activists though, and has never been shy of supporting good causes - no matter who is running the campaign, so there's the confusion. If it's any consolation, I made the same mistake recently.
DeleteMarama is going to make this byelection a whole lot more interesting. She brings an inclusive perspective and - significantly - a wahine perspective that's lacking in Maori political discourse. I hope she secures a winnable list position in 2014! (is that a premature assumption?)
ReplyDeleteJust a bit, as the whole Green membership can vote on the list and that won't happen until next year. But a good by-election campaign will certainly help her chances.
DeleteWhere there any other candidates that were contesting the Green Party's nomination or just Marama?
ReplyDeleteis meka whaitiri gay? is that another point of difference between meka and marama aye?
ReplyDeleteAnon obviously a pakeha with no understanding of whanaungatanga. Marama shares tupuna with Hone Harawira and Hamuera and we are allowed to disagree with each other.
ReplyDeleteLabour's already leaking - Meka won the candidacy by one vote.
ReplyDeletei was in henare's camp.now i'm not supporting labour.boo!
ReplyDelete