Maori Party president steps down
Party President Pem Bird (Ngati Manawa, Ngai Tahu) will not be standing for re-election at the Maori Party's Hui-a-Tau to be held in Whakatane next weekend. The term of office for party president is three years.
"I was elected as president in 2010, at the party's AGM at Omahu Marae in Hastings. The last three years have been a time of great challenge for the party as we sought to battle hard for gains for our people while acutely aware of the impact that the global financial crisis was taking on our people.
"While it is always easy to stand from the side-lines and criticise, our MPs have valiantly stood up for our people, doing everything in their power to support and strengthen our whānau in their capacity to do for themselves.
"I am so proud of the enormous gains crystallised in this year's budget - epitomised by a not-insignificant investment of $1088.6million of tangible achievements.
The Maori Party in parliament has done the hard yards - walking the tightrope of challenging injustice while at the same time concentrating on progress for whānau, hapū and iwi".
"I share in the faith and confidence in our future, as demonstrated by our co-leaders' decisions to retire at the 2014 General Election, and highlighted yesterday by Dr Sharples' announcement to step-down from the Co-leadership role.
"We truly believe in the resilience and the amazing potential of our movement to lead us into tomorrow. My decision to not seek re-election represents my decision to allow the waka to travel forward with new energy at the helm.
"It has been a tremendous privilege to play the part I have in helping the waka move forward, and in the spirit of succession planning and optimism for our future, I look forward to supporting the incoming President in taking up the mantle in the weeks ahead".