Māori Party MPs have been absent from New Zealand Parliament sittings on several occasions due to a mix of disciplinary measures, protests, and internal party matters.
PoO readers might recall – for example – that early in the 53rd Parliament, co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer walked out of the House of Representatives after the Speaker did not allow them sufficient time to speak during the “address in reply” debate.
They decried that as another instance of the Māori voice being silenced.
But it seems there are times when party poohbahs deem it propitious not to be heard – nor (more critically) to listen to other Maori voices.
RNZ reports:
The chairperson of Te Rūnanga Ā Iwi o Ngāpuhi says he is “extremely disheartened” by Te Pāti Māori declining an invitation to meet with Te Tai Tokerau voters.
Rūnanga chair Mane Tahere had invited the national executive of Te Pāti Māori to attend a face-to-face hui at Kohewhata Marae in Kaikohe this Sunday to discuss the expulsion of Tai Tokerau MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and what the strategy for the electorate would be heading into next year’s general election.
Te Pāti Māori declined Tahere’s invitation, saying in a letter they had been advised by “multiple rangatira of Te Tai Tokerau” not to attend “at this time”.
They played the “legal proceedings” card:
The letter said the party was also dealing with some legal proceedings and had been advised that attending may be seen as “interfering with that process”.
Tahere said the national executive’s absence would send a loud message about how the Maori Party valued its northern voter base.
“I cannot accept the reasons given for your non-attendance. My invitation made it absolutely clear that this hui would be held under tikanga on the marae, a setting that Te Pāti Māori, of all political movements, should instinctively understand, respect, and be guided by.”
Speaking to RNZ, Tahere said more than 10,000 people voted for Mariameno Kapa-Kingi to be their MP, another 7000 gave their party vote to the Māori Party and a few hundred were registered to attend the weekend’s hui.
“We are not hillbillies sitting up here with pitchforks. We’re a mature lot, many of our Ngāpuhi people are quite on to it.
“The whole point of the programme was for whānau and even Whāea Mariameno to have their kōrero and to ‘hohou te rongo’ because we were cut out of much of the decision-making about our own candidate – we still have that mamae (pain) as voters in that it’s just off-kilter.”
Tahere said Te Tai Tokerau represented a key electorate for the Māori Party and not turning up tomorrow could spell disaster for the party at next year’s election.
“This could be the make-or-break, and, perhaps by not turning up, political suicide for Te Pāti Māori.”
PoO was somewhat surprised by that final sentence.
Some commentators had led us to believe the party had already committed suicide.
But let’s not forget there was a time when New Zealand First had 17 MPs. That happened after the 1996 New Zealand general election, the first to use mixed-member proportional representation.
It swept the Māori seats (there were five then), gaining significant support among socially conservative Māori voters
By the end of its first term, however, the New Zealand First caucus had shrunk to nine MPs due to internal conflict over coalition government arrangements with the National Party.
More relevant to the Maori Party’s troubles, New Zealand First showed signs of having no political future after failing to secure any seats in Parliament after the 2008 and 2020 general elections.
Winston Peters, the leader of New Zealand First since its formation and Foreign Affairs Minister in the Luxon government today, has been called “Lazarus” because of his repeated ability to revive his political career and his party’s fortunes after political commentators declared them to be dead.
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.
They decried that as another instance of the Māori voice being silenced.
But it seems there are times when party poohbahs deem it propitious not to be heard – nor (more critically) to listen to other Maori voices.
RNZ reports:
The chairperson of Te Rūnanga Ā Iwi o Ngāpuhi says he is “extremely disheartened” by Te Pāti Māori declining an invitation to meet with Te Tai Tokerau voters.
Rūnanga chair Mane Tahere had invited the national executive of Te Pāti Māori to attend a face-to-face hui at Kohewhata Marae in Kaikohe this Sunday to discuss the expulsion of Tai Tokerau MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and what the strategy for the electorate would be heading into next year’s general election.
Te Pāti Māori declined Tahere’s invitation, saying in a letter they had been advised by “multiple rangatira of Te Tai Tokerau” not to attend “at this time”.
They played the “legal proceedings” card:
The letter said the party was also dealing with some legal proceedings and had been advised that attending may be seen as “interfering with that process”.
Tahere said the national executive’s absence would send a loud message about how the Maori Party valued its northern voter base.
“I cannot accept the reasons given for your non-attendance. My invitation made it absolutely clear that this hui would be held under tikanga on the marae, a setting that Te Pāti Māori, of all political movements, should instinctively understand, respect, and be guided by.”
Speaking to RNZ, Tahere said more than 10,000 people voted for Mariameno Kapa-Kingi to be their MP, another 7000 gave their party vote to the Māori Party and a few hundred were registered to attend the weekend’s hui.
“We are not hillbillies sitting up here with pitchforks. We’re a mature lot, many of our Ngāpuhi people are quite on to it.
“The whole point of the programme was for whānau and even Whāea Mariameno to have their kōrero and to ‘hohou te rongo’ because we were cut out of much of the decision-making about our own candidate – we still have that mamae (pain) as voters in that it’s just off-kilter.”
Tahere said Te Tai Tokerau represented a key electorate for the Māori Party and not turning up tomorrow could spell disaster for the party at next year’s election.
“This could be the make-or-break, and, perhaps by not turning up, political suicide for Te Pāti Māori.”
PoO was somewhat surprised by that final sentence.
Some commentators had led us to believe the party had already committed suicide.
But let’s not forget there was a time when New Zealand First had 17 MPs. That happened after the 1996 New Zealand general election, the first to use mixed-member proportional representation.
It swept the Māori seats (there were five then), gaining significant support among socially conservative Māori voters
By the end of its first term, however, the New Zealand First caucus had shrunk to nine MPs due to internal conflict over coalition government arrangements with the National Party.
More relevant to the Maori Party’s troubles, New Zealand First showed signs of having no political future after failing to secure any seats in Parliament after the 2008 and 2020 general elections.
Winston Peters, the leader of New Zealand First since its formation and Foreign Affairs Minister in the Luxon government today, has been called “Lazarus” because of his repeated ability to revive his political career and his party’s fortunes after political commentators declared them to be dead.
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.
2 comments:
Much as I disagree with TPM, in this case they are right not to speak to Ngapuhu. Iwi should not control or be aligned to political parties. Also, Ngapuhi themselves are hardly paragons of unity.
NZ First has always had support in the electorate at large albeit sometimes not enough to reach the 5% threshhold. TPM certainly does not have that luxury.
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