20 Nov 2011

Mana Party expects to attract Labour votes

12:42 pm on 20 November 2011

Mana Party leader Hone Harawira believes his party will pick up disaffected Labour Party voters on election day.

The Mana Party is polling at about 1%, but Mr Harawira is likely to hold the Te Tai Tokerau seat.

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Mr Harawira says he is feeling very relaxed because Mana's campaign has been a strong one based on sound policies that will lift people out of poverty.

He says people are realising poverty is not going to go away and does not think they buy the Labour Party's stance on the issue.

"People are realising that the poverty thing is just going to get worse and worse and worse, and I don't think they buy the Labour line.

"They're looking for, I think, a party that's a little tougher on the edge - and it's just not Labour. Nice people, but it's just not Labour."

Mr Harawira believes Mana is the natural home to a growing number of ordinary New Zealanders cast adrift by the National-led government and despairing of Labour's inability to provide a viable alternative.

The election will be held on 26 November.

Key showing 'true colours'

Hone Harawira says National Party leader John Key is starting to show his true colours through his actions over the 'teapot tapes'.

Mr Key has laid a complaint with police claiming that his conversation in a cafe over a cup of tea with ACT's candidate for Epsom John Banks on 11 November was illegally recorded by a freelance cameraman who gave it to the Herald on Sunday.

Police are demanding that Radio New Zealand and three other national news outlets hand over unpublished material and other information relating to the recording and say they will issue search warrants.

Mr Harawira says John Key talks a nice talk - but when the news media is being searched because of a complaint that he laid, it shows he has something to hide.

He says he finds it hypocritical that National passed a covert surveillance bill in the last weeks of Parliament and is now condoning raids on media outlets over a conversation in a public place.