Labour MP Peeni Henare is hitting back at Te Pāti Māori. Photo / George Heard
Labour MP Peeni Henare is dismissing Te Pāti Māori’s claim that his running in the Tāmaki Makaurau byelection threatens Māori voices in Parliament.
The former Tāmaki Makaurau MP also claims it is a “bit rich” for Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere to suggest Henare’s political future would be in jeopardy if he lost for a second time, noting Tamihere had twice failed to win the seat.
However, even with the contest for the Te Pāti Māori-held seat being described as a “50-50 election”, Henare isn’t saying whether he will run again in the 2026 general election if he is unsuccessful come September 6.
“Let’s get through this race first and worry about 2026 when that happens.”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon yesterday set the date for the byelection, which was prompted by the sudden passing of Tāmaki Makaurau MP Takutai Moana Natasha Kemp.
Kemp narrowly beat Henare in the 2023 general election, a result that Labour requested be recounted, which led to Kemp’s lead growing slightly to 42 votes.
Shortly after Te Pāti Māori last week announced former broadcaster Oriini Kaipara as its candidate aiming to succeed Kemp, Kiri Tamihere-Waititi – party media liaison, wife to co-leader Rawiri Waititi and daughter to Tamihere – wrote on social media how a vote for Henare was a “wasted” vote and claimed it was “greedy” of Labour to run an existing MP in the byelection.
She encouraged voters to support Kaipara as it would mean two Tāmaki Makaurau-based Māori MPs were in Parliament.
Tamihere-Waititi’s strategy proved an effective one for Te Pāti Māori in 2023 when Labour secured the largest party vote share in the Māori seats while Te Pāti Māori candidates won six of the seven electorate contests.
Henare, speaking from Parliament this morning, dismissed any claim Labour was being greedy.
“Every green seat in the House of Parliament is a contested seat, anybody who thinks a seat is going to be given to somebody is absolute folly,” he said.
“In the last election, I got over 10,000 votes. I owe it to them too to make sure that they’re represented, and that’s why I put my hand up.”
He noted Labour’s Georgie Dansey, a wahine Māori, would enter Parliament if he won the byelection.
“Any suggestion that I’m curbing a Māori voice in Parliament is absolute folly and those kinds of reckons don’t help what should be a good contest between two good candidates.”
Speaking to the Herald last week, Tamihere said Henare could risk leadership aspirations if he was unsuccessful.
Henare, who held Tāmaki Makaurau for three terms from 2014, described Tamihere’s jab as a “bit rich” and referenced the former MP’s failed attempts to win the seat in 2005 and 2020, as well as an unsuccessful Auckland mayoralty bid.
Henare clarified he had “huge respect” for Kaipara, despite alleged efforts from Tamihere to “drag me into the trenches for an all-out, toe-to-toe fist fight”.
Stating he would run a respectful campaign, Henare said he would be encouraging “out-of-the-box thinking” to gain support as well as a stronger social media presence, which he admitted Labour could improve in the face of a formidable and established Te Pāti Māori online operation.
Henare and Kaipara were the primary contenders. Vision New Zealand leader Hannah Tamaki would also contest the seat. National, Act and New Zealand First were not entering candidates.
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson, who has run for the seat three times, confirmed last week her party would not contest the byelection as it was not a “responsible use of our resources at this time”.
Tamihere had argued it would boost his party’s support base but Labour’s Māori caucus chair Willie Jackson believed support would go both ways.
“This is very much a 50-50 election. We’re not over-confident at all, we respect Te Pāti Māori and the young movement out there, but we’ve got a long history with Labour.”
He claimed no backroom deals had been reached between Labour and the Greens about the latter not standing a candidate.
Jackson repeated Henare’s assertion Labour would run a clean campaign, but also said he was up for a fight.
“If they want to have a fight, Te Pāti Māori, well, I’m up for it, there’s no problems with that, but that’s not how we’re going to run this campaign, this is a respectful campaign.”
Labour leader Chris Hipkins today confirmed Henare would not be given leave from his Parliament duties to spend more time campaigning in Auckland.
“[Henare] still has his job, he still needs to fulfil his responsibilities as a Member of Parliament.”
Hipkins maintained Labour would have a “very, very active ground game” and believed Henare’s experience in Parliament would benefit him in the byelection.
Luxon yesterday repeated his criticism of Hipkins for not further challenging the 2023 Tāmaki Makaurau result, indicating he would have pursued an election petition, which goes beyond a recount.
Hipkins today said Labour had been advised a petition was likely to have been unsuccessful, given Kemp’s share of the vote increased after the recount.
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.