Te Pāti Māori has emailed members with serious allegations against Eru Kapa-Kingi and his mother, MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. Video / Herald NOW
Expelled Te Pāti Māori MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi claims her spending has come in under budget after allegations from her former party she was headed towards a $133,000 overspend.
In a statement released this afternoon, Kapa-Kingi said she had been officially notified her parliamentary budget was “underspent”.
Inan email seen by the Herald, reportedly sent from Parliamentary Service to Kapa-Kingi on November 14, it stated her budget for the second year of this term had been underspent.
The level of the underspend was redacted.
The email also said Kapa-Kingi’s financial result would be removed from Te Pāti Māori’s financial report for this year.
“In my capacity as the MP for Te Tai Tokerau, I worked through a plan with my Parliamentary Service business partner, as is usual practice, to ensure that operational costs for the representation of both the Te Tai Tokerau and Tāmaki-Makaurau electorates were met,” Kapa-Kingi said in her statement, referencing her work in Auckland’s Māori electorate after the death of Takutai Tarsh Kemp.
“This plan was well under way prior to my demotion from the Matarau (Whip) position, and the subsequent escapade of the Te Pāti Māori president - undermining the mana of my electorate and my whānau by throwing me to the media.”
In October, after criticism of the party from Kapa-Kingi’s son Eru, Te Pāti Māori publicly released several documents regarding Kapa-Kingi and her son, including a letter allegedly from Parliamentary Service in August warning the MP she was headed towards a $133,000 overspend of her budget.
Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere emailed the MP about the overspend allegations. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Recommending “urgent action”, it listed several options including bringing forward 10% of Kapa-Kingi’s third-year budget, cutting casual staff hours, stopping all travel for staff and considering restructuring staff.
“If we don’t have a satisfactory resolution, this issue will be taken to the Speaker,” the letter read.
Days later, Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere appeared to have emailed Kapa-Kingi regarding the “urgent requirement to resolve significant financial over expenditure out of your office”.
After the allegations, Kapa-Kingi claimed she had reached an arrangement with the party to use funding to help cover duties left over after Kemp’s death, which she referenced in today’s statement.
“The first budget transfer covering this mahi was approved and signed off by the Te Pāti Māori co-leaders. On that basis, I expected the second budget transfer to be honoured. For reasons beyond my understanding, it was not.
“Subsequently, advice was sought from the Speaker of the House, and a plan was swiftly enacted with the assistance of my Parliamentary Service business partner.”
The overspend allegations have been one of a litany of contested issues between Kapa-Kingi and the party, which has resulted in her expulsion alongside Te Tai Tonga MP Tākuta Ferris, who the party alleged had joined Kapa-Kingi in attempting to replace the current co-leaders, Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.
Yesterday, Kapa-Kingi held a hui in Northland’s Kaikohe, attended by several Northland Māori leaders including Dame Naida Glavish, Hone Harawira, Mane Tahere and Aperahama Edwards.
While the party’s co-leaders did not attend, MP Oriini Kaipara was in the audience.
In a media release from hui organisers, it stated participants had agreed on several resolutions including calling for Tamihere to resign, the reinstatement of Kapa-Kingi to Te Pāti Māori and “interim” support for Kapa-Kingi as the Te Tai Tokerau MP.
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.
