Marama Fox struck a defiant tone in her speech this evening as her impending loss to Labour candidate Meka Whaitiri became clear.
Fox said commiserations were in order for Ikaroa-Rawhiti as they were ‘about to have a member of parliament who is going to sit in opposition’ but saved her strongest words for likely king-maker, Winston Peters (NZ First).
“You’re about to have a man that, no matter which party rules, whether it’s red or blue, this guy wants to get rid of the treaty- out of every piece of law,” says Fox, “this guy wants to get rid of Māori seats, wants to get rid of an independent Māori voice.”
Fox echoed Te Ururoa’s appeal on the campaign trail for Māori to use their votes strategically.
“What I think the whānau have done is they’ve gone back to the mothership,” says Fox, “They’ve gone back like a beaten wife to the abuser who has abused our people over and over again.”
While Fox’s speech- given as she stood surrounded by whānau at her election headquarters- had all the hallmarks of a concession speech, she refused to officially concede defeat.
“I don’t concede because conceding means that we let red and blue government rule our people like they’ve done so for a hundred and fifty years.
“I don’t concede to that. Not ever. We’ll be back to fight another day.”