<\/p>\n
\nOriini Kaipara makes her maiden speech in Parliament on 10 October 2025.
\nPhoto: VNP\/Phil Smith\n<\/p>\n
Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori’s newest MP Oriini Kaipara has swung in to support her under-fire colleague Mariameno Kapa-Kingi.<\/p>\n
Kapa-Kingi’s future in the party is uncertain, after Waatea News reported party members voted to suspend the Te Tai Tokerau MP<\/a> at a National Council hui last Thursday.<\/p>\n The M\u0101ori radio station reported the resolution was passed by members from T\u0101maki Makaurau, Hauraki-Waikato, Waiariki, Ikaroa-R\u0101whiti and Te Tai Hau\u0101uru, with Te Tai Tonga abstaining.<\/p>\n The party’s newest MP for T\u0101maki Makaurau – Oriini Kaipara – has gone on to post on Facebook over the long weekend, expressing public support for Kapa-Kingi.<\/p>\n “Our kuia are important. They hold rank for reason,” she wrote.<\/p>\n “Meno is a kuia my soul recognises and gravitates toward without effort. She is a pou of Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori and for me, being the newest member to our waka, I see her, I believe her and in her, I support her.”<\/p>\n RNZ has contacted Mariameno Kapa-Kingi for comment.<\/p>\n \nFile photo. Mariameno Kapa-Kingi speaking in Parliament in May 2025. On Monday, a party spokesperson told RNZ the matter was currently before the National Council and remained an internal party process.<\/p>\n “All proceedings are guided by our Kawa (constitution) which was developed by the founders of our movement. We await the outcome of the Council’s proceedings and findings. No further comment will be made while these processes are underway,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n The party’s National Council is comprised of the party president John Tamihere, two co-vice presidents (one male, one female), the two co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, all of its MPs, and up to four council members selected by each electorate.<\/p>\n The National Executive is the party president, the two co-vice presidents and the two co-leaders.<\/p>\n The party currently only has one vice-president, Fallyn Flavell, after Mariameno Kapa-Kingi’s son and leader of the h\u012bkoi movement Eru stepped down from the role earlier this year.<\/p>\n Eru Kapa-Kingi<\/a> has been highly critical of the co-leaders since stepping down from his role and has rejected their claims he tailgated through security gates at the Beehive and verbally abused security staff on Budget Day last year.<\/p>\n Lance Norman, the party’s secretary and treasurer, and party general manager Kiri Tamihere-Waititi serve as ex officio members of the National Executive, without voting rights.<\/p>\n All decisions made by the National Executive need to be ratified by the National Council at its next hui.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nPhoto: VNP \/ Phil Smith\n<\/p>\n