Former Labour MP John Tamihere has attacked the party as being ‘too focused on issues like gay marriage’ after being kept out of its conference this weekend.
While he wants to make a political comeback, his membership is yet to be approved by the party hierarchy.
“It’s a bit like joining the Head Hunters,” he said in an interview with 3 News reporter Patrick Gower. “As I'm trying to walk through, trying to get my membership, they are all there beating you – it’s a bit like a gang, a gang initiation.”
He also criticised the party for being too focused on marriage equality:
“You have to have a contest of ideas, and it shouldn’t be demeaned into a contest that ‘I like women’,” he laughed.
Tamihere has been a controversial figure, particularly for his infamous Investigate interview.
On his Radio Live talkback programme he has repeatedly voiced homophobic slurs and has also made derogatory comments about Labour's gay MPs.
