{"id":645717,"date":"2026-10-30T09:26:32","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T09:26:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/645717\/"},"modified":"2026-10-30T09:26:32","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T09:26:32","slug":"whanau-looking-for-answers-heard-a-lot-of-scrapping-at-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/645717\/","title":{"rendered":"Wh\u0101nau looking for answers heard ‘a lot of scrapping’ at debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

A political commentator has described last night’s Kaupapa M\u0101ori Debate as ‘scrappy’, saying they could understand if voters were getting ‘h\u014dh\u0101’ of politicians getting into each other instead of the issues.<\/p>\n

Political commentators Whatitiri Te Wake, from Te Ao M\u0101ori News, and Esther Robinson were on Breakfast this morning to unpack what unfolded on the debate.<\/p>\n

“You throw Shane Jones, Rawiri Waititi, Willie Jackson, and Tama Potaka behind a table, and you’re guaranteed to get a bit of a firecracker of a show, and that’s exactly what we saw,” Te Wake told Breakfast.<\/p>\n

He described the debate as “very scrappy” and “very passionate”.<\/p>\n

Te Wake appreciated hearing from National’s Tama Potaka and ACT’s Nicole McKee “to get that real plurality of voices”.<\/p>\n

“There’s that k\u014drero out there that M\u0101ori voters vote a certain way.<\/p>\n

“What we found over our polls at Whakaata M\u0101ori in recent weeks, there are actually quite a number of wh\u0101nau M\u0101ori who would still give their party vote to the likes of ACT, New Zealand First, and to National.<\/p>\n

“So on that basis, beautiful,” he said.<\/p>\n

He could understand how wh\u0101nau were also getting tired and h\u014dh\u0101 of the back-and-forth.<\/p>\n

“They’re looking to our politicians for answers, for the pathway forward. But all we heard was a lot of scrapping.”<\/p>\n

\"Esther<\/p>\n

Esther Robinson and Whatitiri Te Wake on Breakfast. (Source: Breakfast)<\/p>\n

Robinson said Greens co-leader Marama Davidson gave the standout performance.<\/p>\n

“She was able to show that you don’t have to be the loudest person on the podium and still make your points well.<\/p>\n

“And perhaps that could be reflective of how well the Greens are doing in the M\u0101ori seats this election.”<\/p>\n

She said it was good to see McKee in a different format.<\/p>\n

“There were some vulnerable moments for her, but she generally came well prepared and had a tough debate for her, given that only 3% of M\u0101ori voters support the ACT Party.”<\/p>\n

She praised co-moderators Te Aniwa Hurihanganui and Scotty Morrison for wrangling the seven candidates, saying there were some great \u201cwarm, funny\u201d moments among tackling serious topics.<\/p>\n

Te Wake said the discussions around Te Tiriti o Waitangi and constitutional transformation, as well as te reo M\u0101ori, will give voters a lot to think about.<\/p>\n

‘Cost of living is king’<\/p>\n

Te Wake said many wh\u0101nau would have watched the debate in hopes of getting urgent attention to issues they face at the supermarket.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think that would have given voters that reassurance that help is on the way.”<\/p>\n

When asked if politicians have fallen out of touch with the public on cost of living, Robinson agreed.<\/p>\n

“The gangs issue had an opportunity for that to potentially provide some penalty in the polls on the side of the left bloc. National was campaigning very strongly on that but it hasn’t really hit because crime and punishment isn’t a really big topic in this election. <\/p>\n

“People are very much focused on the cost of living. If this was the 2023 election that could have been a really decisive game changing moment, but this election, cost of living is king.”<\/p>\n

Debate recap<\/p>\n

The seven main political parties selected representatives to participate in TVNZ\u2019s Kaupapa M\u0101ori Debate held last night.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The seven panellists on TVNZ’s Kaupapa M\u0101ori Debate. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson, NZ First MP Shane Jones, Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, ACT deputy leader Nicole McKee, National Party’s Tama Potaka, Labour Party’s Willie Jackson, and Opportunity Party\u2019s Christchurch Central candidate Eden Skipper took part.<\/p>\n

The debate was moderated by Te Karere presenter Scotty Morrison and 1News M\u0101ori Affairs Correspondent Te Aniwa Hurihanganui.<\/p>\n

Te Tiriti o Waitangi<\/p>\n

In the first question of the night, candidates were asked to name the ancestor that connected them directly to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. All except ACT Party deputy leader Nicole McKee were able to answer.<\/p>\n

“On both the M\u0101ori and the British side, I don’t know – like many M\u0101ori out there,” she said.<\/p>\n

NZ First is proposing to get rid of the Waitangi Tribunal<\/a> within the first 100 days if the party was in government. Jones said politics is not static – it\u2019s dynamic – and the institution from 1975 doesn\u2019t serve modern purposes.<\/p>\n

“It’s not an institution that should remain aloof from the pressures and the democratic process.”<\/p>\n

Instead, an “enhanced, reformed” Te Puni K\u014dkiri would absorb its duties.<\/p>\n

Jones has also proposed to force Ng\u0101puhi into a single commercial settlement. When challenged last night on this issue, he said every month the government was borrowing billions of dollars to keep the economy afloat.<\/p>\n

Labour’s Jackson interjected: “This is someone who wants to borrow $30 billion to buy the BNZ. Their latest budget is at $71 billion but he can’t find the extra money for M\u0101ori.”<\/p>\n

Jackson went on to criticise the government, saying it was the most anti-M\u0101ori government of his lifetime.<\/p>\n

Opportunity’s Skipper, a newcomer to the political arena, said his party would not support the abolishment of the Waitangi Tribunal.<\/p>\n

The Green Party wants to make the Tribunal’s recommendations binding. Co-leader Marama Davidson said the people showed their support in showing up “time and time again” for Te Tiriti.<\/p>\n

Jackson defended the Labour Party’s stance against entreching the treaty.<\/p>\n

“My Uncle Moana Jackson was…very clear that the Treaty should not be entrenched, it should not play a part in the Westminster system.”<\/p>\n

He said the government needed to support and resource it but it should remain independent.<\/p>\n

‘All of these people have wh\u0101nau in gangs’<\/p>\n

Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori co-leader Rawiri defended his party’s stance on gangs, saying a “right-wing mechanism” has been used to pour more fire on “something that actually doesn’t exist”.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

He said his party represents all wh\u0101nau, and gestured to his fellow panellists.<\/p>\n

“All of these people have wh\u0101nau in gangs, and the thing is, you’ve got to build the correlation between breaches of the Tiriti o Waitangi and what has created gangs in the first place.”<\/p>\n

The cost of kai<\/p>\n

The candidates were asked to estimate the cost of a bag of shopping containing butter, bread, 1kg of mince, milk and eggs, totalling $48.20.<\/p>\n

NZ First deputy leader Shane Jones admitting he \u201cnever go[es] shopping\u201d<\/a> after guessing the haul cost $35.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve got daughters, wives, and other people to do that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m not allowed to go shopping. I attract a lot of negative attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Shane<\/p>\n

Shane Jones holds up placard with his guesstimation of the cost of kai. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Kai and supermarkets<\/p>\n

National’s Potaka said the party was focusing on keeping food inflation down.<\/p>\n

Waititi said Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori is taking a two-pronged approach by putting money in people\u2019s pockets and attacking the supermarket duopoly and ensuring there are M\u0101ori-owned supermarkets.<\/p>\n

He said M\u0101ori have interests across fishing, agriculture, dairy and horticulture and having the opportunity to be able to contribute to a M\u0101ori-owned supermarket will help break up the duopoly.<\/p>\n

Jackson said Labour’s policy was focused on putting a stop on price gouging where supermarkets were “ripping off” customers.<\/p>\n

Jones said NZ First are going start by ensuring there’s competition in the food supply chain. “We’re going to stand up for the suppliers and producers who have been gouged.”<\/p>\n

Davidson said the Greens would ban excessive price gouging “immediately”, and brought up their plan to establish a publicly-owned supermarket with the objective of affordable pricing to challenge New Zealand’s grocery duopoly.<\/p>\n

ACT’s McKee said they were not in support of a “Pak’n’Soviet” but rather getting rid of the bureaucracy to help more supermarkets open efficiently, citing an example of a supermarket in Christchurch that took four years and $3 million to open.<\/p>\n

Skipper said the Opportunity Party supports “much stronger teeth” for the Commerce Commission.<\/p>\n

“It’s not just kai at the supermarket, it’s also on the energy bills that we have…some of the industries are some of the most profitable in the world – banks. We also need clear, tougher rules to ensure we can get those prices down.”<\/p>\n

\"Opportunity<\/p>\n

Opportunity Party’s Eden Skipper. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

He said their modelling has shown people would be better off by $30 per week once the proper regulation was in place to get rid of price gouging.<\/p>\n

Potaka defends government’s kaupapa M\u0101ori track record<\/p>\n

National’s Potaka defended his government\u2019s track record with kaupapa M\u0101ori, listing $250 million for marae and $48 million to Te Matatini, driven through Wh\u0101nau Ora, as achievements.<\/p>\n

He was asked whether the government was being divisive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been some challenges along the way but iwi leaders continue to call me on a regular basis, and M\u0101ori leaders, to try and do things together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Potaka and Jackson go tit for tat<\/p>\n

Jackson, a former M\u0101ori development minister, was asked how he would rate incumbent Potaka’s performance over the last three years between one and 10.<\/p>\n

“Negative one,” said Jackson.<\/p>\n

“It’s very parliamentary of him,” Potaka retorted.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

When Jackson continued to criticise Potaka and the National-led government, Potaka fired back with a reference to the 2004 Foreshore and Seabed, before the interaction devolved into an argument.<\/p>\n

Opportunity’s healthcare challenge declined?<\/p>\n

On health, Opportunity’s Skipper said governments have failed to back the healthcare system and failed by not giving long-term clarity.<\/p>\n

He then turned to his fellow panellists and challenged them to indicate who would support a 10-year funded healthcare plan to address inequities.<\/p>\n

Davidson said the Green Party had announced theirs.<\/p>\n

Jones said in te reo M\u0101ori that it wasn\u2019t for a boy to order him, a matua, around, and refused to answer the challenge.<\/p>\n

‘It is ethnicity, Nicole’ – Davidson and McKee go head to head on health<\/p>\n

A new study in the New Zealand Medical Journal found that ethnicity remains an independent predictor of preventable death even after adjusting for age, deprivation and income.<\/p>\n

ACT\u2019s McKee was asked to defend her party\u2019s position that health funding should follow need not race based on the research.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith what you’ve just said, then certain people with certain conditions would still be in need and would still get the opportunity to get that health assessment and get the medicines,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we don’t agree with is that only those with a particular race are the ones that would be eligible when they’re not. Need above race is required for everything, not just the health system.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Davidson, a breast cancer survivor, responded saying ACT\u2019s policy was \u201cabsolutely\u201d racist. She said systemic racism across healthcare has long been researched and established.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be clear, when you have women with breast cancer who are diagnosed, when you strip away age, income, location, all other identifying factors \u2013 it is ethnicity, Nicole, it is ethnicity that we need to base the funding for our services on because it is ethnicity that is the ground for need.\u201d<\/p>\n

But McKee was not convinced, despite further attempts by fellow panellists to continue the argument.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a country we cannot be so divisive that we start separating everybody based on their race – that is not racist, the division comes when you start saying that one lot needs something over someone else,\u201d said McKee.<\/p>\n

Protecting te reo<\/p>\n

The candidates have weighed in on how they\u2019re protecting te reo.<\/p>\n

McKee said they were already protecting the taonga through the introduction of charter schools but added that learning the language was a choice.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, NZ First\u2019s Jones defended his party making English an official language.<\/p>\n

\u201cThirty percent of all the people tonight standing and living in New Zealand weren\u2019t born here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Zealand First is concerned about the flow of migrants compromising the cohesiveness of our society.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe introduced the English language, so the changing demography of New Zealand knows that this is an English-speaking country. Those of us who are bilingual, we should support it, and we should continue to fund where appropriate those initiatives.\u201d<\/p>\n

National\u2019s Potaka, meanwhile, hit back against the characterisation that the government had actively removed te reo from schools, street signs and government departments, among other areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have actively reinforced our commitment through te reo M\u0101ori, through Te Matatini, through Te M\u0101ori T\u016b, through a range of other initiatives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori\u2019s Waititi called for te reo to be prioritised in classes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to make M\u0101ori compulsory. But we won\u2019t strap you into it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will we will treat you with a lot of kindness and welcome you to our language. But we won’t do it what you did to our ancestors and strap the s**t out of them to learn English.\u201d<\/p>\n

Final word – kupu whakamutunga<\/p>\n

For the final question of the debate, candidates were asked what M\u0101ori word best describes their party.<\/p>\n

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said \u2018manaaki\u2019.<\/p>\n

NZ First deputy Shane Jones chose \u2018t\u016b rangatira\u2019.<\/p>\n

Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori co-leader Rawiri Waititi came with \u2018whakarukea\u2019.<\/p>\n

ACT deputy leader Nicole McKee said she didn\u2019t know many M\u0101ori words, and instead described her party as \u2018dedicated\u2019.<\/p>\n

Both Labour\u2019s Willie Jackson and Opportunity\u2019s Eden Skipper picked \u2018kotahitanga\u2019, while National Party\u2019s Tama Potaka chose \u2018mahi tahi\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A political commentator has described last night’s Kaupapa M\u0101ori Debate as ‘scrappy’, saying they could understand if voters…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":645718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,4432,43,40,38,41,39,10872,270122],"class_list":["post-645717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-maori-issues","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-torangapu","tag-vote-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=645717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/645718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=645717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=645717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=645717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}