New political era for Tairāwhiti with two independent MPs

Meka Whaitiri has crossed the floor of the House to sit as an independent for the rest of the Parliamentary term. File picture

Tairāwhiti is in the unprecedented position of having two independent MPs following the resignations of Labour’s Meka Whaitiri and the Green Party’s Dr Elizabeth Kerekere from their respective parties.

Ms Whaitiri, formerly the Customs Minister outside of Cabinet, has been Ikaroa-Rawhiti’s MP since 2013.

She is currently an independent MP, but will run as a Te Pāti Māori candidate in October’s general election and was welcomed to Parliament this week by the party’s co-leaders who performed a pōwhiri for her.

Speaker of the House Adrian Rurawhe has ruled that Ms Whaitiri is an “independent member for Parliamentary purposes” and therefore is not subject to “waka-jumping” legislation (The Electoral Integrity Amendment Bill) which would force her to vacate her seat.

The Speaker said there were “very specific events” that would be required by the law to trigger Ms Whaitiri’s ejection and “I can confirm to the House that those events have not happened”.

In announcing her resignation from the Green Party last Friday, first-term list MP Dr Kerekere said she would retire from Parliament at the election.

She has since confirmed that she will not stand for Te Pāti Māori.

Her political future had been called into question after she appeared to call fellow Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick a “crybaby” a month ago.

By comparison the resignation of Ms Whaitiri on May 3 came as shock to the Government.

Former Labour cabinet minister and ACT leader Richard Prebble, in his latest New Zealand Herald column, says Ms Whaitiri is one of four Te Pāti Māori candidates likely to win their electorate in October.

The district has not had an independent MP since Douglas Lysnar in 1928.

The 1908-1911 Mayor of Gisborne won the Gisborne electorate as a Reform candidate in 1919, 1922 and 1925 before winning again in 1928 as an Independent who supported reform.

At the next election, as a full Independent, he lost by just 317 votes to Labour’s David Coleman who won the seat in five consecutive elections from 1931.

The electorate, originally named East Coast, had seven Independent MPs between 1871 and 1887 before the Liberal Party introduced organised party oriented government to New Zealand in 1891 and went on to rule for a record 21 years.