Outgoing MP Peeni Henare On Being Māori, A Politician, And Why He’s Walking Away From The Labour Party

Lillian
Hanly, Political reporter

Outgoing
Labour MP Peeni Henare says he is ready to “see the back of
this place”, as he prepares
to leave both Parliament and the party who gave him an
“opportunity” after 12 years.

“You can only try your
best, and I believe I’ve done that,” he said in a sitdown
interview with RNZ during his final week as a Labour MP,
revealing the most difficult times for him were balancing
“being Māori” and “being a politician”.

Henare said
he had “mixed emotions” during his last days in Parliament,
and said it was the “human connections” in the place that
made him feel sad this week.

He
had connections across the House, enjoying good
relationships with members from all parties, saying that was
a testament to how he conducted himself politically, “that’s
always been my style”.

He also had connections with
the security guards, earlier this week he thanked them for
leaving kina in his fridge.

“I’ve had a lot of people
from all different walks of life, inside and outside of
Parliament, talking about how sad they are to see me leave
politics, some even hope that I might change my mind,” he
said.

Asked whether anyone in the Labour leadership
had asked
him to change his mind, he responded: “There’s always
conversations with the Labour leadership, but my mind’s
pretty made up”.

The resignation

Henare’s
shock resignation was announced
at Waitangi, after he confirmed he was not contesting
the Tāmaki Makaurau seat.

Following a messy media
briefing with Labour leader Chris Hipkins, Henare announced
he was calling time on his 12-year Parliamentary career,
citing exhaustion and a desire to spend more time focusing
on his family and future.

Hipkins, who initially
refused to answer questions about the resignation, denied
the announcement had been bungled, but it did not stop
questions being asked about the circumstances.

At the
time, New Zealand First Deputy leader Shane Jones, and a
relation of Henare’s, expressed his surprise
at the retirement.

He said he wanted to find out
what had happened and that the “kumara vine” would inform
him.

Ahead
of Henare’s valedictory on Wednesday, Jones said he no
longer wanted to speculate.

“That was a word said at
Waitangi, and the god of wind has blown those words long way
into the distance,” Jones said.

Asked if he thought
Labour regretted letting Henare go, he said Henare was not
the first Māori that Labour “forced out”, having left the
party himself in 2014.

‘Maybe I should have been more
of a Māori’ – Henare

In Henare’s maiden speech in
2014, he referred to Dr Pita Sharples of Te Pāti Māori,
who had not been re-elected, saying “I have taken up the
paddle of the vessel that you left behind”.

Asked
about this, Henare said he believed every Māori had a bit
of Te Pāti Māori in them. He described marching in the
Foreshore and Seabed hīkoi in 2004, and more recently the
Toitū te Tiriti hīkoi.

“I’m Māori to the core, but
I make no bones about it – Labour gave me an opportunity,
and one that I was fortunate to have.”

Surprising too
perhaps given his family had been tied to the National
Party.

“I ultimately chose Labour, and have worked
hard for 12 years with them.”

He
has held multiple ministerial portfolios, such as ACC, Civil
Defence, Whānau Ora, Defence, Forestry, Tourism, Veterans
and Youth Development, as well as various roles in
opposition.

He was also the only Labour MP to be sent
to the Privileges Committee as part of the haka Te Pāti
Māori started in the house over the first reading of the
Treaty Principles Bill.

He was most proud of securing
a significant boost of funding for Whānau Ora. In his
valedictory speech on Wednesday, he described the
establishment of the Māori Health Authority as a “crowning
moment”.

Asked if he had any regrets from his time in
Parliament, he referred to the Covid-19 pandemic response
and questioned whether he had made the right decision at
times.

“It was hurtful at that time, those decisions
around burial and tikanga Māori and things like that were
always quite difficult.”

Another “particularly
challenging time” was Ihumātao he said, when he had to
“dance on the head of a pin, if you like, as a politician
and as a Māori”.

“I walked away from there thinking,
maybe I should have been more of a Māori.”

On walking
that fine line within the Labour party, he acknowledged it
was challenging, however, the feeling of isolation or
inability to express “your Māoritanga to its fullest” was a
challenge for any Māori MP.

But because of the roles
he had held in the past, and also the burden of his
whakapapa (ancestry), it meant he would question “is Peeni
the Māori today, or is he the politician?”

He did
have fond memories of times when he was well supported in
the Labour party and able to “progress kaupapa”, so it was a
“bit of give and take”.

The Māori vote

Last
election, Labour lost six out of the seven Māori seats. He
said there was strategising taking place to win them
back.

“No doubt about it, we’ve got work to do” he
said, on winning the Māori vote.

“My message is
always the same for Māori in the Labour Party, don’t
rebuild for the election.

“Rebuild with a view towards
securing the Māori vote for the next 10 to 20
years.”

He said Willie Jackson, co-chair of the Māori
caucus, did a good job of talking about Labour’s key areas
of focus this year (jobs, health, homes), while also
listening to what Māori wanted to see from a potential
Labour government, “he’s a political animal”.

“But
be under no illusion, the 2026 election is going to be a
tough one.”

Asked whether the turmoil Te Pāti Māori
faced last year was the reason Labour was in with a chance
in the Māori seats this year, Henare said that was part of
it.

He reflected on his success in 2014 being partly
because the “tide was going out on Te Pāti Māori” because
of their association with the National Party.

‘My
time was done’ – Henare

Last year, Henare lost for a
second time to Te Pāti Māori in a by-election for the
Tāmaki Makaurau electorate seat.

He had been honest
about how bruising the loss was, and there were questions
about whether he would run for the seat again.

He said
there were ongoing conversations about how he was feeling
and his career, and ultimately the party asked him to
consider it all.

“There comes a time where you should
call your time on your career and allow others to push the
kaupapa forward.

“I decided my time was
done.”

He
described personal reasons, such as his family, for the
decisions, but also that no one’s time in politics was
infinite.

Hipkins was asked by RNZ on Tuesday this
week whether he had any regrets that Henare was leaving. He
said he was “very fond of Peeni”.

“I’m always sad to
see any of my colleagues go, and I’ll be sad to see him
go.”

Asked if the Labour leadership told Henare there
was not a place for him, Hipkins maintained what he had said
all along, that it was “Peeni’s decision”.

What’s
next?

He had his eyes set on putting his experience,
knowledge, connections and talent to work for his iwi,
Ngāpuhi.

“Continuing to progress the kaupapa of my
people and the wellbeing and interests of my people – that’s
a calling that’s always been there for me.”

That could
potentially take the form of being a negotiator for the
Ngāpuhi treaty settlement, “Without being presumptuous – I
think there’s an opportunity.”

On whether the Treaty
Negotiation Minister had approached him, Henare said there
had been nothing official, “he knows my number, when I leave
this place – feel free to give me a call”.

Minister
Paul Goldsmith told RNZ he would “have a chat” with
Henare.

“I’ve got big challenge to find a way through
to a settlement with Ngāpuhi, and I’ve got good Crown
negotiators, but there may be a role somewhere in there for
Peeni, he’s a real
leader.”

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