‘Magnificent’ -Mr Kirk

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31317, 13 March 1967, Page 1

‘Magnificent’ -Mr Kirk

The Leader of the Opposition (Mr Kirk) last night hailed the Southern Maori byelection result as “magnificent and encouraging.”

He said it was “one that shows that the Maori elector, like so many others, is disillusioned by and dissatisfied with the Holyoake Government.

Mr Kirk, who was in the Chatham Islands for the farewell Vice-Regal visit, spent election day in Waitangi. “It is significant that though the Minister of Maori Affairs (Mr Hanan) had been sent to campaign extensively and had made almost frantic efforts to restore the flagging interest in the National Party’s bankrupt cause, 74 per cent of the people had voted for Miss Whetu Tirikatene, the Labour candidate,” Mr Kirk told the New Zealand Press Association. Marginal Seats “No matter what they say, this result must be a chilling experience for Government members, particularly those in the marginal seats,” the Opposition Leader said. “In spite of the very real and considerable difficulties of campaigning in such a wide-

spread and far-flung electorate—the area embraced by Southern Maori includes some 40 European electorates both the total Labour vote and the election-night majority have been increased.

“Miss Tirikatene will be a very valuable addition to the ranks of the Parliamentary Labour Party,” Mr Kirk said.