Craig
McCulloch, Acting Political Editor
Te
Pāti Māori’s co-leader Rawiri Waititi is blaming two of
his MPs for turmoil
within the party, accusing them of going “rogue” and
trying to roll the leadership.
On Monday, party
president John Tamihere called on Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and
Tākuta Ferris to “do the honourable thing” and step
down.
But neither MP looks like leaving of their own
accord. In a statement, Kapa-Kingi told RNZ she was “not
going anywhere”. Ferris has yet to publicly respond, but his
electorate branch is calling for Tamihere
instead to resign.
Arriving at Parliament on
Tuesday morning, Waititi told media the party’s national
council now had a “process in play” regarding whether to
expel Kapa-Kingi and Ferris from the party.
“That’s
not a decision for me. That is a decision for the
electorates. We’ve taken it back to the people.”
The
party’s national council includes representatives from all
six electorates held by the MPs.
Asked whether the
party might invoke the waka-jumping provision to eject the
two MPs from Parliament altogether, Waititi said their
electorate seats had been “determined by their
voters”.
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“They are MPs of those particular
electorates,” he said.
Asked for clarification later
in the day, Waititi said the waka-jumping option had not
been considered “at this time” but remained a
possibility.
“We’re allowing our national council to
work through the constitution and we need to be able to
allow them to do that without having to deal with that
through the media.”
Waititi said he stood by Tamihere
as president and pinned blame for the internal ructions on
“allegations and two rogue MPs” gearing up for a leadership
coup.
“All in good time you will find that out,” he
said.
Waititi confirmed he would meet with
representatives from the Iwi Chairs Forum later today to
“solidify the kaupapa”.
“We’re cleaning up our whare,”
he said. “Our tipuna traversed the oceans to get here and
many storms, and we will get through this.
“We will go
through a reset. Resets don’t happen overnight and resets
will continue as we continue to build the momentum of our
Māori voice here.”
Fellow co-leader Debbie
Ngarewa-Packer later told reporters at Parliament it was an
“honour” to meet with the iwi leaders.
“I know that
it’s been disruptive, and I know that we’ve made the
headlines for the reasons we don’t want to, but it’s
actually been really great to know that we are owned and
they feel aligned and they feel whanaungatanga [kinship] to
us to be able to turn up. That’s an honour.”
Iwi
Chairs Forum spokesperson Bayden Barber told RNZ on Monday
iwi leaders were going to “give it our best shot” to
reconcile the differences.
Tamihere avoided reporters
on his way into Parliament on Tuesday morning, ducking into
an apartment building’s parking lot.
Earlier, he told
RNZ’s Morning Report the party’s leadership would
“very shortly” consider whether to expel Kapa-Kingi and
Ferris.
When asked directly if he still wanted the two
MPs in the party, Tamihere said: “Not if they continue to be
rogue.”
In a statement to RNZ, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi
said Tamihere did not speak for her Tai Tokerau
electorate.
“The people voted me as an electorate
member, I’m proud to say, and therefore I’m not going
anywhere. I have a job to do and I plan to continue to do it
best way I know how – show up, prepare and remember who you
represent.”
Asked for comment, Ferris said only that
his electorate’s executive would be sending out a statement
“in due course”.
Speaking before a caucus meeting on
Tuesday, Labour leader Chris Hipkins reiterated his calls
for Te Pāti Māori to “sort themselves out”.
“But I’d
also remind people that four years ago, the National Party
was tearing itself apart, and now they’re in
government.”
Senior Labour MP Willie Jackson, a
long-time friend of Tamihere, said he would not be taking
sides.
“We’re sitting back … and just watching how
this rolls out.”
Jackson said Labour would not be
welcoming any defectors. He said the party was prepared in
the case of any by-elections.
“We would be
irresponsible if we weren’t ready … given all the talk
coming out of Te Pāti Māori.”
ACT leader David
Seymour said Labour had a big problem because it needed Te
Pāti Māori’s numbers to take power.
“They’ve got
more coup-papa than
kaupapa.”
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