Iwi calling for Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere to step down, ousted MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi says

Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. Photo / Mark Mitchell

By Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira of RNZ

Expelled Te Pāti Māori MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi says there was a call by an iwi for the party’s president, John Tamihere, to step down, at a Te Tai Tokerau hui at the weekend.

Te Tai Tokerau was calling on Te Pāti Māori to reinstate Kapa-Kingi, the region’s MP, and for improved relations between the ousted MP and her former party.

That came from a hui called for by Te Rūnanga Nui Ā Ngāpuhi, where more than 200 people packed into Kohewhata Marae in Kaikohe to speak with Kapa-Kingi face-to-face and decide on their response to her and Tākuta Ferris’ expulsion from the party this month.

Among those also in attendance were Ferris, Tāmaki Makaurau MP Oriini Kaipara and whānau from across Te Tai Tokerau and Muriwhenua.

Te Pāti Māori had declined the invitation to attend the hui in Kaikohe, saying it had been advised by multiple rangatira (chiefs, leaders) not to attend at this time.

There was broad support for Kapa-Kingi at the hui to remain the MP for Te Tai Tokerau and hopes that Te Pāti Māori could mend the current schism in time to contest the 2026 general election as a unified party.

Many also called for the party’s president, Tamihere, to stand down.

Te Pāti Māori’s national executive declined an invitation to attend the hui, citing concerns around potential legal trouble – a move described as “extremely disheartening” and “insulting” by hui organisers.

The party has alleged Kapa-Kingi “overspent” her electorate budget and, with Ferris, plotted to take over the leadership of the party. Kapa-Kingi has denied both claims.

Speaking to the crowd, Kapa-Kingi addressed the claims of financial mismanagement. She said she had received an email from the Parliamentary Services Office that she was in fact within her parliamentary budget – by $1.

“I want to share that with you, because there’s so many other mischievous and bad stories that have been told for bad reasons ... and I want to be able to correct those things so that people know better what has actually happened from me.”

Kapa-Kingi said there were dynamics of “sexism”, “narcissism” and “misogyny” at play within the party.

“What is getting played out against me, and against my colleagues – and one of my dear colleagues that is no longer here – is all of that horrible, yuckiness, targeted at wāhine Māori [Māori women],” she said.

She said that while some Māori might feel like the last 12 months had been “the worst ever”, the worst was still yet to come.

“I love you and I am here for you and I’m not going anywhere,” she said.

“And how do we end this? We stand J.T. down. That’s how we end it.”

The ultimate goal of the hui was for Te Tai Tokerau to discuss strategies on how to respond to Kapa-Kingi’s expulsion and find a consensus on how to move forward.

All who wanted to speak were invited to do so, while note-takers gathered their kōrero (speeches) to report back on later in the evening.

The hui was both jovial and tense, at times, as kaikōrero (speakers) took turns sharing their whakāro (thoughts) to the whare (house). Some spoke about the need for young people to step up into leadership positions while others spoke of how He Whakaputanga, the 1835 Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand, needed to be at the centre of decision-making.

Among the speakers was Ngātiwai rangatira Aperahama Edwards, who said many people were feeling hurt and confused, especially after the unity displayed during Te Hīkoi mō te Tiriti (November’s March for the Treaty).

“We want it to end,” Edwards said.

“We don’t want our people led into the trenches to have to choose sides.”

Edwards said the ructions within the party had taken attention away from other kaupapa, like the recent changes to the Marine and Coastal Areas Act.

“I ended up going down to Parliament, so I’m probably the last person to give advice to either of them on how to get back in there. I went down and got kicked out of there to try and draw attention to what’s happening in front of our eyes,” he said.

“But the only kōrero that was being consumed in the media and on social media was the inferno raging within Te Pāti Māori.”

Edwards said it would be the taimariki who carried the mauri of the hīkoi to Parliament that would be most affected.

“Where’s the aroha [love] for those taitamariki [young people]? Because they’re looking at all their superheroes sitting across both camps, embroiled in this raru [conflict], and their hearts break,” he said.

– RNZ