A Rotorua-based Maori lobbying group striving to get more tangata whenua enrolled to vote is praising a new bilingual election advertisement.
The Electoral Commission has launched two ads, one bilingual and the other in English, which has come from its $6 million advertisement budget.
The bilingual television commercial highlights a well-known Maori proverb, where a group of people say "Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, ēngari he toa takitini", followed by the translation, "I am not a warrior who walks alone, but stands with many". It ends with the text, vote September the 20th.
Kiri Potaka-Dewes of Vote Maori Vote in Rotorua said the ad depicted Maori values, which she thinks could encourage tangata whenua who haven't enrolled to sign up. She was thrilled that more and more Maori concepts were being picked up by non-Maori.
The Electoral Commission said the concept of the ad was picked by the people in the commercial, who were everyday people the commission asked to be in campaign.
