imnofox, the Green Party's Māori Affairs and Te Tiriti o Waitangi spokesperson, went live on Facebook with Ngā Tūmanako

"Kapa haka is a beautiful taonga, one that the Crown has the obligation to protect, and an art that is certainly worth protecting. Every year we're blessed to enjoy the iconic Te Matatini competition. This year, my friends here from Ngā Tūmanako took the top prize."

"Astoundingly, despite being far more important to New Zealanders, Te Matatini only gets a fraction of the funding given to the NZSO or RNZB. I know for a fact that these national cultural events are far more impactful and relevant than the ballet."

"The Royal NZ Ballet gets more than double the funding of Te Matatini."

"A Green government, along with /u/KatieIsSomethingSad and the Labour Party, would increase funding to Te Matatini and Polyfest to match the RNZB and NZSO. It's time we valued these iconic and engaging festivals the same way the state values orchestra and ballet."

"Nobody remembers Aotearoa New Zealand by the ballet, but they remember Aotearoa by our thriving and diverse cultures and the celebration of that."

"A vote for Katie in Te Tai Tokerau is a vote for a Green-Labour professive government, a government that values all of our impressive cultural events, not just pākehā ones."

imnofox sidled out of frame to allow Ngā Tūmanako to make an amazing kapa haka performance to close the live stream