Election billboards belonging to Te Pāti Māori are being vandalised on a daily basis with the word 'Māori' being cut out from the adverts.
The party believes it's racially motivated and is now offering a cash reward for anyone who identifies the perpetrators.
Election hoardings went up on Saturday but already Tāmaki Makaurau candidate Takutai Kemp is back out in the community replacing and cleaning up after vandals targeted her boards.
“It’s really disheartening actually, but this is what we face on the daily here it’s just coming out in the open even more. You know racism is alive and kicking here in Tāmaki Makaurau.”
When asked by 1News why she described it as racism, Kemp said there were no other hoardings “in these spots being vandalised, cut down, [or] cut out the word Māori”.
“They could have cut out all the words, they could have spraypainted over everything but they’ve spraypainted over the word ‘Māori’. The word Māori is cut out, and now the actual signs are cut out.”
It’s not the first time the party has faced this kind of vandalism. Last election co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer’s moko kauae was painted over in white.
The party is now offering a $1500 reward for anyone who can identify the culprits.
“As an electorate, we have fundraised, we have koha that is donated to the party, to the electorate of Tāmaki Makaurau so it will come from there,” said Kemp when asked where the money will come from.
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