Goff scoffs at claim of losing church

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Labour leader Phil Goff has laughed off claims his party is losing support from its historical Ratana church allies.

"He wishes" was Goff's response yesterday to claims by Prime Minister John Key that the Maori Party had won most Ratana followers over.

"When a relationship has lasted 78 years, then there is a lot of substance in that relationship," Goff said.

"Sure, you need to update it to be a 21st-century relationship, but it shows the coincidence between Ratana and Labour working for the ordinary person."

Goff led about 20 Labour MPs onto the Ratana pa, 20 kilometres south of Wanganui, yesterday as part of annual celebrations for the birthday of the prophet Tahupotiki Ratana.

Key visited Ratana on Friday, saying the Maori Party had become the most popular political party in the area. Goff yesterday rejected that claim.

"He wishes. He knows that the National Party doesn't get much support here so he hopes he can divert that into the Maori Party which is, for the time being, his coalition partner," Goff said last night.

"There are a lot of people here whose loyalties and support for the Labour Party run really deep and go back a long way."

Goff copped some flak after a speech to the Palmerston North RSA in November last year.

Critics said he had "played the race card" when he attacked a "shabby" deal the Government had made with some Maori to secure support for the Emissions Trading Scheme.

Yesterday, Goff said: "It was a cynical act to buy votes in Parliament to pass the legislation which put at risk the integrity of the Treaty settlement process. I stand by my criticism of that."

Maori Party MPs were also at Ratana yesterday.

Maori Party whip Te Ururoa Flavell said it had been an interesting day.

"Phil Goff and Labour weren't exactly backward in coming forward in challenging," he said. "They said ... they were here to celebrate the birth of the founder of the movement and then immediately following, Phil Goff proceeded to give about a 10-minute political speech."

Flavell said he got the feeling there was "a fair bit of support" for the Maori Party.

"The relationship between the Labour Party and the Ratana movement is, and will continue to be, a discussion point amongst the movement."

- © Fairfax NZ News