Te Pāti Māori wants to be in government in 2026, but will Labour work with them?
It was a “reset” which started half an hour late, and only left three minutes for questioning. With eyes set firmly on a role in government next year, Te Pāti Māori has promised that a series of “small adjustments”, upcoming policy announcements and a promise to work better together will pave the way to a “by us, for us” Aotearoa. But dreams of governing may fail to come to fruition if the party can’t mend its bridge with Labour.
The much anticipated reset – following a few hōhā weeks made worse by claims of bullying at the party’s top level – came off the back of freshly minted MP Oriini Kaipara’s maiden speech on Thursday afternoon, which will see her investigated for contempt of parliament. What was supposed to be a moment to acknowledge “Māori resilience” and Aotearoa’s tormented history with te reo Māori has now turned into a review launched by speaker Gerry Brownlee.
Te Pāti Māori may be headed back to the privileges committee if Brownlee decides the party knew about a planned haka in the public gallery – and the fact that Kaipara’s speech went over time after it was allowed an earlier slot in the House proceedings won’t be making the speaker feel very forgiving. It’s a lot of heat for Kaipara to take in her first week on the job, and a former broadcaster would be all too aware of the pressure of sticking to a time limit. Claims from Brownlee about the need to respect the tikanga of parliament ring true, but it also proves the need for parliament to assess why its tikanga is so incompatible with that of tangata whenua.
Te Pāti Māori and its members gathered in parliament’s grand hall following Oriini Kaipara’s maiden speech.
Downstairs, in parliament’s grand hall, Te Pāti Māori continued its victory run with platters of burgers and fried chicken for members, a slick video encouraging “believe in you, believe in me, believe in Māori” and a united front with all its MPs present. The reset, which had spurred rumours of role changes, turned out to be just a vision for the year ahead: policies to be announced in full in the coming week which will cover wealth distribution by putting Aotearoa’s 2% “on notice”; investment in Māori services and workforce pathways; whānau-first approaches to social development and Māori-led initiatives to support the environment.
But scattered throughout co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer’s speeches were apologies which didn’t quite say sorry (there was “we’ve heard you” instead) and small admissions providing peaks behind the curtain. Comments made by MP Tākuta Ferris referring to Labour Party volunteers as “Indians, Asians, Black and Pakeha campaigning to take a Māori seat from Māori” (which have already earned an apology to the Labour Party, despite Ferris doubling-down), an alleged culture of toxicity within Te Pāti Māori’s operations and explanations for a missed AGM would have been important to address directly so supporters knew what the party “will try harder” on. Instead the speeches were vague and broad.
Te Pāti Māori is truly parliament’s tiniest operation, formed by many hands and whanaunga who wear multiple pōtae in other leadership roles outside the party, and who have at times worked without pay to support the party’s success. Speaking to reporters after her speech, Ngarewa-Packer admitted the death of MP Takutai Tarsh-Kemp had meant the party had lost its “peacekeeper”, faced “growing pains” and now has a new dynamic to navigate.
Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi only took three questions about their reset.
It’s been a long road for the party since co-leaders Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer first arrived in parliament in 2020, both faithfully staying the course of being disruptors to the system. Eru Kapa-Kingi – son of MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and face of the Toitū Te Tiriti movement, which recently distanced itself from Te Pāti Māori – has said the party should stick to politics, while the activists do the groundwork in communities. That unsolicited advice seems to have been echoed by many of the party’s supporters. In the end, it may prove more productive for Te Pāti Māori to work with the system instead of against it.
Another 21-day suspension (as was the punishment dished out over the Treaty principles bill haka) from parliament will mean the voices elected to represent Māori will be missing yet again, and Kaipara’s maiden speech has undoubtedly already widened the chasm between the speaker and the party. There’s also the problem of the party’s relationship with the fourth estate, which Waititi heavily criticised during general debate in the House on Wednesday, with the message that “we are not afraid of scrutiny, we welcome truth, but what we reject completely is the colonial gaze that turns Māori excellence into suspicion”.
If there was supposed to be a reset as to the party’s relationship with the media, it wasn’t to last. An impromptu press conference following the party’s reset announcement only lasted three minutes and 45 seconds after 1News political editor Maiki Sherman dared to ask for the party’s response to allegations of having a dictatorship model at the leadership. “You fellas can thank Maiki for that,” Waititi told reporters as he dragged Ngarewa-Packer away from the microphones. Punishing journalists for asking hard (and relevant) questions doesn’t translate to being unafraid of scrutiny.
Ngarewa-Packer and Waititi sat with party president John Tamihere for the reset.
A strong, united Te Pāti Māori will also be needed to reassure the left bloc ahead of next year’s election. Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer have already met with Greens co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick this week, while Labour, the opposition party most keen to separate itself from Te Pāti Māori’s scandals, has already suggested they won’t be willing to work with the party next year, but has stayed mum on what they would have liked from a reset.
Although Winston Peters and Chris Hipkins have both ruled each other out on multiple occasions, if there’s a change in Labour leadership by this time next year, the idea of another Labour-NZ First coalition might not be so implausible. This is the first time Te Pāti Māori have shown they do want to govern beside Labour, while the legacy party has declined to return the sentiment.
And with Te Pāti Māori’s privileges committee lawyer Tania Waikato not-so-soft launching her bid to be a Greens candidate on the campaign trail next year, parliament’s smallest party should also be looking to secure winning talent if they really want a monopoly on the Māori seats by 2029. If the Greens run Waikato in a Māori seat next year, she’ll have an incredible amount of momentum off the back of her Treaty principles bill and regulatory standards bill activism.
But there’s still the problem of the MPs currently in parliament, with a rumoured divide between the party and Mariameno Kapa-Kingi; a new MP at risk spending their first weeks in parliament in front of the privileges committee; and Ferris continually doubling down on rhetoric labelled racist. When The Spinoff asked Ferris outside the grand hall what he would say to those offended by his comments, he replied that it was a “tricky topic, and if you want to track through it, I’m happy to do it, but you’re not going to get it like this”. Te Pāti Māori has yet to reply to emails from The Spinoff.