Steven Gaskell: Oriini Kaipara’s “Landslide” - Proof That Competence No Longer Matters

So, Tāmaki Makaurau has spoken. Former broadcaster turned political darling Oriini Kaipara has cruised into Parliament on a wave of adoration from Te Pāti Māori supporters. The result is being heralded as some kind of historic “landslide.” But let’s not kid ourselves this wasn’t a contest of ideas, policies, or even competence. This was identity politics at its most brazen.

Because if you watched the campaign, Kaipara’s performance was anything but convincing. Time and again she exposed herself as underprepared, out of her depth, and frankly struggling. Her public appearances were memorable not for bold policy announcements or coherent debate, but for awkward silences, stumbling answers, and a physical appearance that raised genuine concern. Frail, gaunt, and clearly unwell, she hardly projected the strength or stamina one would expect of a new MP. In most jobs, questions about someone’s basic fitness to do the work would be front and centre. But here? Competence doesn’t matter. Choosing incompetence wrapped in identity does.

And while Kaipara struggled through the campaign, TPM’s political machine was doing what it does best bending or breaking the rules. On election day itself, when campaigning is strictly banned, TPM MP Tākuta Ferris thought it a great idea to post a picture of himself holding greasy fries and urging people to vote. A clear breach of electoral law, and one the Electoral Commission has now confirmed it’s “looking into.” Translation: don’t expect much. For TPM, the law is more of a suggestion than an obligation.

But none of this made a shred of difference to the outcome. Kaipara’s win wasn’t about policies, performance, or lawfulness. It was about identity. TPM is a tribe, not a rational policy movement. Its supporters don’t care whether their candidate is prepared, healthy, or even competent. All that matters is that she wears the right label. It is ethnic bloc voting in its purest form voters aligning with candidates from their ethnic group regardless of merit or ability.

That’s the dirty little secret of this so-called landslide. If you slapped the TPM logo on a cardboard cut out, it would probably win Tāmaki Makaurau just as easily. Loyalty to the tribe outweighs everything else even the obvious reality that the chosen candidate can’t handle scrutiny.

And yet, in the aftermath, we’re told this is a “mandate.” A triumph. Proof of Māori political strength. Let’s be clear: it’s proof of nothing more than tribal loyalty overwhelming reasoned judgment. Competence, policy, and legality were all tossed out the window. This was an election result driven not by what Kaipara said or did, but by what she represented: identity above all.

So what now? We have a new MP who has already demonstrated she’s incapable of withstanding pressure. We have a party that treats electoral law as optional. And we have an electorate that happily rewards both, because substance is secondary to symbolism.

In short, Tāmaki Makaurau has delivered us the perfect case study in New Zealand’s growing identity politics problem: a Parliament where ethnicity trumps ability, tribal loyalty trumps law, and rational policy making doesn’t even get a look in.

Steven is an entrepreneur and an ex RNZN diver who likes travelling, renovating houses, Swiss Watches, history, chocolate art and art deco.