Christopher Luxon has spent too much of his term legislating culture wars while the basic services New Zealanders rely on have been allowed to deteriorate, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer says.

“The Prime Minister had a finite term to govern. He chose to spend an extraordinary amount of it undoing Māori rights and weakening Crown obligations while the services New Zealanders depend on were deteriorating,” Ngarewa-Packer said.

“He found the time to mobilise 13 government agencies to trawl through Treaty provisions across 28 Acts.

“While his Government was fighting those culture wars, 14,862 older New Zealanders were reportedly missing Winter Energy Payments they were entitled to, our hospitals were under enormous winter pressure and ambulance services were facing extraordinary demand.

“Tell me what weakening Te Tiriti delivered for a single whānau struggling to pay their power bill.

“How many nurses did it employ? How many hospital beds did it open? How many homes did it build? How much did it take off the weekly shop?

“This Government talks endlessly about efficiency and cutting bureaucracy, but somehow there was always enough bureaucratic capacity when the job was weakening Māori rights. 

“A government tells you what it values by what it chooses to spend its time on. Christopher Luxon made his choice.

“Māori have carried the constitutional cost of his culture wars. Now all New Zealanders are seeing the opportunity cost. 

“Te Pāti Māori will make a different choice.

“We will invest more in hauora in nurses, doctors, kaupapa Māori providers, preventative care and getting whānau treated before they reach crisis.

“We will invest more in housing building warm, secure homes and unlocking Māori land so whānau can build papakāinga.

“We will invest more in our kaumātua and whānau so people can heat their homes, afford the essentials and live with dignity.

“We will invest more in our rangatahi in education, training and pathways into secure, well-paid jobs.

“And we will invest in renewable energy owned closer to our communities, solar on homes and marae, community energy and storage that cuts power bills and builds energy sovereignty.

“That is the choice at this election.

“Less political energy spent manufacturing division. More investment in the things that actually make people’s lives better.

“Less time dismantling Māori rights. More time building homes, strengthening hospitals, lowering power bills and creating opportunities for our mokopuna.

“Christopher Luxon chose culture wars.

“We will choose our people.”