WAATEA NEWS COLUMN: By Martyn Bradbury
The Kingmakers debate on TVNZ last night was won by the two Queens, Chlöe Swarbrick (Greens) and Qiulae Wong (Opportunity), but I think Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader Rawiri Waititi landed a killer blow to Winston Peters (New Zealand First) that he won’t recover from.
By throwing into Winston’s face his infamous 1975 quote about Māori losing their land, culture and language and becoming “kahki” Europeans, Rawiri reminded the entire country that Winston has been around so long that he has become a political hypocrite.
That is devastating because very few would remember that quote and resets Winston more recent Treaty of Waitangi bashing with the radicalism of his youth.
That moment alone allowed Rawiri to land a knock out punch while Winston spent the rest of the debate reeling.
It was New Zealand vs Old Zealand.
The TVNZ polling clearly shows Māori voters understanding the Te Pāti Māori candidate strategy and the rush to the Greens continues to back up that vote splitting strategy.
Māori strategic voters will decide the 2026 Election.
Martyn Bradbury is publisher and editor of The Daily Blog. This article was first published by TDB and is republished with permission.
This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.
APR editor | Radio Free (2026-10-15T06:00:25+00:00) Rawiri shines at Kingmaker debate as Māori voters set to rock NZ government in election. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2026/10/15/rawiri-shines-at-kingmaker-debate-as-maori-voters-set-to-rock-nz-government-in-election/
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