So where is that approach here? Nowhere.
This is the same MP who, not so long ago, told white politicians that they “were lucky to live here at all.” However, when the tables turn, when it is her position on the line, suddenly she is running straight to the very system she presumably scorns. It’S a whākn’ joke.
Kapa-Kingi’s public statements make it clear she believes the expulsion was unjust, that party processes were flawed, and that leadership failures need correcting. All fair points. But if she truly believed in a Māori way of doing things, she would have gone down the tikanga path. Now it’s expensive lawyers and colonial legal wrangling.
It is difficult not to see the irony. A politician who thrives on rebuking Pākehā structures now finds herself shackled to them. For all the talk of Māori sovereignty and self-determination in parliament, when push comes to shove, the default solution is the system built by the very people she lectures…
Matua Kahurangi is just a bloke sharing thoughts on New Zealand and the world beyond. No fluff, just honest takes. He blogs on https://matuakahurangi.com/ where this article was sourced.
Kapa-Kingi’s public statements make it clear she believes the expulsion was unjust, that party processes were flawed, and that leadership failures need correcting. All fair points. But if she truly believed in a Māori way of doing things, she would have gone down the tikanga path. Now it’s expensive lawyers and colonial legal wrangling.
It is difficult not to see the irony. A politician who thrives on rebuking Pākehā structures now finds herself shackled to them. For all the talk of Māori sovereignty and self-determination in parliament, when push comes to shove, the default solution is the system built by the very people she lectures…
Matua Kahurangi is just a bloke sharing thoughts on New Zealand and the world beyond. No fluff, just honest takes. He blogs on https://matuakahurangi.com/ where this article was sourced.
4 comments:
But should we be surprised Matua? After all, weapons grade hypocrisy seems to be the very basis of TPM.
Matua, oh so true. We are far too nice to these racist radicals.
Matua is far too polite. Kapa-Kingi bolting to the High Court, any court, after years of denouncing “colonial” structures isn’t irony — it’s pantomime on a marae stage.
If she’d arrived at the courthouse on horseback waving a taiaha and demanding an urgent judicial review “in the spirit of tino rangatiratanga,” the picture would be complete.
It turns out tikanga is wonderful for speeches, protest placards, and committee room monologues — but not quite robust enough when your own co-leader and party president apparently knifed you before lunch.
But let’s not pretend selective principle is a Māori Party exclusive. Wellington’s full of it.
The Greens preach moral purity until one of their MPs goes shopping without a wallet.
Labour promised kindness; what we got was a wellbeing budget for consultants.
National vowed clarity but treats Treaty issues like a haunted object no one wants to touch. ACT talks about free speech until it complicates the coalition arithmetic.
Winston remains Winston — the man who can condemn elitism while checking his reflection in the ministerial car window.
So yes, Matua’s right: Kapa-Kingi’s dash to the “colonial” courts is rich.
But she’s hardly alone. Our political class could run a hypocrisy triathlon — sprint from a principle, cycle away from accountability, and finish with a long-distance explanation of why none of this is their fault.
In the end, the only genuinely bipartisan thing left in Wellington is this: Every party knocks the system, right up until the moment they need it.
—PB
Sounds like a bit of tikanga was used to oust her. Now she understands the problem with it.
Post a Comment
Thank you for joining the discussion. Breaking Views welcomes respectful contributions that enrich the debate. Please ensure your comments are not defamatory, derogatory or disruptive. We appreciate your cooperation.