Challenger considering taking on Harawira in Te Tai Tokerau Electorate

Maturahurahu leader and long-time advocate for Northland, David Rankin, is considering standing against Hone Harawira in this year's General Election.

"It's not something I am rushing towards", says Mr. Rankin, who is a lecturer at Unitec, "but I have been approached by several kaumatua to stand as an independent, and am looking at whether that might be a way to break the stranglehold Hone has tried to establish in the north".

"We have had three years of growing poverty and hardship throughout Northland", says Mr. Rankin, "but all our people see is their MP spending his summers in Australia. What everyone is asking is what has Hone done for us, and the answer is nothing".

Mr. Rankin says he still has to decide whether he will stand, but as an indication that he is a serious contender, he has announced that within a few weeks, he will be revealing an issue involving a senior Maori Party MP and the misappropriation and cover-up of over $1.4 million.

In the past four years, Mr. Rankin has brought to light a number of financial irregularities in the Ngapuhi Runanga, but says that his latest revelation will dwarf those and make people question the integrity of the Maori Party.

ENDS

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