The cold harsh reality remains that many Māori in Christchurch are still struggling to put a roof over their heads.
With Stewart Island at its southern most point, and Wellington City at its northern border, Te Tai Tonga is the biggest Māori electorate. Māori Television Reid Research polls released this week shows incumbent MP Rino Tirikatene holding a comfortable lead.
According to political commentator David Jones, “Firstly, his family name and the fact he's sat as the MP for this region for three years, meeting whānau around the electorate has bid him well. The other candidates have only just come into the game and that shows in their lack of support.”
Jones also says Labour still has a lot of work to do to get the party tick, though the scandal of the Dirty Politics book recently seems to be helping.
Looking to the Te Tai Hauāuru electorate, will the might of Rātana be able to topple the legacy left by Tariana Turia? Polls show Chris McKenzie is ahead of the pack, sitting on 32%, with Adrian Rurawhe close at his tail.
Jones states, “Tariana has her mana, and Chris has his own but if you look at the old saying "As an old net withers another takes its place" here is her heir fishing for votes with a lot of work to be done.”
With unemployment rife in the electorate, voters are crying out for help.
Only three more weeks to go to Election Day, this race is only just starting to heat up.