NZCPR Podcast: The Tyranny of the Minority

The shock defection of the Labour Cabinet Minister Meka Whaitiri to the Maori Party caught the Prime Minister and her former colleagues by surprise. They were blind-sided, admitting they had no idea she was thinking of leaving the Party.

Thomas Cranmer: Meka Whaitiri's Departure from the Labour Party - A Wake-up Call for the Māori Caucus

The broader question posed by Whaitiri’s move is where the Māori caucus is more effective: inside or outside Labour?

Jacinda Ardern may have left New Zealand politics but her announcement in mid-January that she would step down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party seems to have set the tone for much soul-searching by MPs during this election year.

Bryce Edwards: No one’s mana is enhanced by the Meka Whaitiri defection

The defection of Labour Minister Meka Whaitiri has been heralded by some as a stunning coup for Te Pāti Māori and a “courageous” step by the rebel MP. But is it really? The whole episode can also be viewed as rather farcical and shabby, reflecting very poorly on the integrity of both Whaitiri and the party welcoming her. This episode also illustrates just how much Te Pāti Maori has changed. The party once claimed to be all about the pursuit of “mana enhancing” relationships, but the contemporary version of the party is looking increasingly opportunistic.

The Māori Party was originally established when another Labour MP and minister, Tariana Turia, defected from Helen Clark’s Labour Government in 2005 over the Foreshore and Seabed legislation. Regardless of the rights and wrongs of that dispute, Turia’s departure was a highly principled one, and carried out honourably.

Cam Slater: Why Should We Follow the Law When the Government Doesn’t?

If there were a single word to describe this Labour Government then it probably would be ‘unlawful’. Wednesday saw yet another example of unlawful behaviour from the Government, along with the Speaker Adrian Rurawhe, both dancing on the head of a pin in order to avoid Meka Whaitiri being bundled out of Parliament as required by the law.