Te Pāti Māori are not strangers to hate speech and online threats. Today however, a line was crossed.

Our Hauraki-Waikato candidate, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi Clark’s home was invaded, vandalised, and left with a threatening letter. This premeditated and targeted attack is the latest of three incidents to take place at Hana’s home just this week.

When our billboards are vandalised, and when our candidates are verbally assaulted, it is not an attack on them as individuals or us as a political party. It is an attack on what we represent: our whakapapa, our culture, and the dreams of our tupuna and mokopuna.

To our knowledge, this is the first time in our history that a politician’s home and personal property has been invaded to this extent.

This escalation of danger is what happens when right wing politicians race bait and fearmonger for votes. They have emboldened this type of behaviour. Now it is time we embolden ourselves.

Such ugliness has no place in our Aotearoa Hou. It only shows the strength of our movement.

Speaking at The Hui’s Hauraki-Waikato electorate debate tonight, Hana Maipi-Clark had a clear message to the people who entered her home and threatened her: “Don’t be scared”

“The kohanga reo generation are here, and we have a huge movement and a huge wave of us coming through”

“I am not scared… I am here to be a light and a māramatanga to us that we belong in these places” said Maipi-Clark

Hana is our mokopuna, and no mokopuna should ever be treated this way.

It’s time to stand up for our whakapapa. To defend our mokopuna.

Vote for the movement that will never allow this to happen to us. For our Aotearoa hou. For our mokopuna.

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