Meka Whaitiri is now based in Gisborne running her own consultancy firm and coaching netball.
Meka Whaitiri is now based in Gisborne running her own consultancy firm and coaching netball.
Ex-Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP Meka Whaitiri says she has “no regrets” about her decision to defect from Labour to Te Pāti Māori and is open to becoming an MP again in future.
Whaitiri spoke to Hawke’s Bay Today for the first time since defeat in last October’s electionand has shared the full reason for her party switch – including a Labour decision which “felt like a kick in the guts for Hawke’s Bay”, what she is doing now, and her aspirations for the future.
Whaitiri crossed the floor in a shock move last May, leaving the Labour Party to join Te Pāti Māori.
She had been Labour’s Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP for a decade at the time and was a minister outside Cabinet.
The move proved costly to her hopes of retaining her seat, as she was beaten by political newcomer Cushla Tangaere-Manuel (Labour). She was also the only Te Pāti Māori candidate not to win her seat on the Maori roll.
Ikaroa-Rāwhiti has only ever been won by Labour and stretches from Tairāwhiti (Gisborne) down to Hutt Valley.
After Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023, Whaitiri said she spent weeks speaking to impacted communities, volunteers and marae communities around Hawke’s Bay.
“I was giving all this intel from my eyes, knowing people, being from this area, and it was just falling on deaf ears in Wellington,” she said, of dealing with her ministerial colleagues.
“I sucked it up as much as I could because I know how Wellington works... but it was a source of huge frustration.”
Ikaroa-Rāwhiti Te Pāti Māori candidate Meka Whaitiri at her election night gathering at Waipatu Marae in Hastings. Photo / Paul Taylor
Whaitiri said she “kept hammering” for more support to improve the cyclone response but it felt like she was going around in circles. It eventually took its toll.
“When I stepped back, I thought ‘that was a really hard period’ and if I couldn’t get any cut through to my own colleagues after 10 years with them, knowing my electorate as well as I did and being someone on the ground, it just started to make me quite despondent.”
She said she knew it was not possible to get everything her own way, but the experience left her depleted.
“In the end, I just went ‘You know what, I just need to go’. It was as simple as that.”
Whaitiri said many had remarked she was “just p***ed off” she didn’t get into Cabinet after ex-minister Stuart Nash lost his position.
She said that was “the last straw” but it was not a matter of being selfish. She said she had spoken to Deputy Prime Minster Grant Robertson about the Cabinet reshuffle.
“I said to Grant, ‘I know how this is going to look but please trust me when I say this, whoever you replace Stuart in Cabinet with they must be in Hawke’s Bay. You have to respect the people of Hawke’s Bay’,” she said, amid the cyclone response.
“All I got told back was ‘it’s not my decision’ and I said ‘I know but you talk to [Chris Hipkins] and you’re very influential’.”
That was her “last attempt” to stay, but they appointed a Cabinet minister from outside Hawke’s Bay – Northland’s Willow-Jean Prime, she said.
“I just thought it was a kick in the guts for Hawke’s Bay.”
She said she had been approached several times over the years by Te Pāti Māori and she called party president John Tamihere (a former Labour MP). Things moved quickly from there.
Whaitiri is now running her own consultancy firm, is coaching a Premier netball team in Gisborne, and remains heavily involved with Te Pāti Māori.
“My priority one is building the Te Pāti Māori movement across Ikaroa-Rāwhiti.”
She said she had “100 per cent no regrets” about leaving Labour. Whaitiri said she had the energy and drive to run again if Te Pāti Māori wanted her to, albeit her preference would be on the general roll (such as East Coast, Napier or Tukituki) as she had “done my dash” with Ikaroa-Rāwhiti.
Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.
