Te Kou o Rehua Panapa was one of two people who sought to become Te Pāti Māori's candidate in the Tāmaki Makaurau byelection.
Te Kou o Rehua Panapa was one of two people who sought to become Te Pāti Māori's candidate in the Tāmaki Makaurau byelection.
The unsuccessful contender for Te Pāti Māori’s Tāmaki Makaurau byelection candidacy has copped flak for celebrating Peeni Henare’s selection as Labour’s candidate.
Te Kou o Rehua Panapa, a former youth adviser for Manurewa Marae, is calling on political parties to centre their campaigns on what’s best for the people.
He told the Herald some in Te Pāti Māori were disappointed he didn’t solely endorse the party’s candidate, Oriini Kaipara.
“I’m rooting for both of them from the back,” Panapa says of Kaipara and Henare.
“Both of them would be amazing for Tāmaki to be honest, but yeah, I’ve not aligned myself to anybody.
“The party was quite disappointed at that, to be totally honest. I’ve just gone, well, I’m just going to sit back here and ... we have to allow the people to speak.”
Panapa had worked in Parliament for former Tāmaki Makaurau MP Takukai Moana Natasha Kemp before her death after a battle with kidney disease.
Takutai Moana Natasha Kemp with Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere on election night in 2023. Photo / Mike Scott
Continuing Kemp’s work had motivated Panapa to offer himself to be her successor.
However, he was narrowly beaten by Kaipara by about 30 votes from a crowd of up to 350 people, he estimated, during Te Pāti Māori’s selection process last week.
Over the weekend, Labour selected Henare - a former Tāmaki Makaurau MP of three terms - as its candidate to contest the byelection set for September 6.
Panapa attended Henare’s selection event atNgā Whare Waatea Marae in Mangere and posted to social media, congratulating the Labour MP and thanking him for acknowledging Kemp.
A few days later, Panapa again took to social media to “clear a lot of the noise” having been “hammered, good and bad, from all ends” for his comments.
“It’s okay to be passionate, but let’s keep the discourse respectful,” Panapa wrote.
“To clarify, Peeni is my whanaunga, and before politics, we’re whānau and Māori first.
“However, Takutai’s influence led me to Te Pāti Māori, and I’ve come to appreciate and support their unapologetic stance on being Māori in spaces that often threaten our existence.”
Panapa said his post had prompted some to believe he had left Te Pāti Māori and was joining Labour.
“Peeni had some beautiful words to say about Takutai, so I tended to listen to that.
Panapa said he hadn’t heard from Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere, also his grandmother’s first cousin, about the matter, saying he believed Tamihere “understood where I was coming from”.
Former Manurewa Marae youth advisor Te Kou o Rehua Panapa in Parliament. Photo / Supplied
Tamihere said he was unaware of Panapa’s comments but stated: “What individuals do with their own free will is their business.”
Still a Te Pāti Māori member, Panapa said he had not decided whether to endorse one specific candidate.
He had also not considered whether he would contest next year’s election, despite being asked by Te Pāti Māori if he would want to run in an Auckland general seat.
Panapa said it remained an open question whether, should he run, he did so for Te Pāti Māori, Labour or the Green Party.
As for the byelection, Panapa suspected Kaipara would “give it a good go” against Henare, whom he had worked for previously across three campaigns.
“Peeni’s done some amazing work here in Tāmaki Makaurau but I personally think [Kaipara] could win this on the party, on the back of the party.”
Citing his experience working with South Auckland youth, Panapa explained what might have been considered “radical” views from Te Pāti Māori in the past were now attracting a growing young Māori audience in Auckland.
“[Previously], it was grandparents-driven and you voted for Labour and that was it.
“That’s changed now, I think it’s more the young people making decisions for themselves to vote.”
He encouraged candidates to avoid political sparring and focus on improving what was typically a low voter turnout.
“What both parties don’t realise is that our people, especially South Auckland people, if there’s too much narrative and it’s too complicated, they don’t turn up and vote.
“That’s the problem, so the focus must be on getting people there to vote.”
Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald’s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.
