Te Pāti Māori emails members with serious allegations against Eru Kapa-Kingi and his mother, MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi

The Herald has since published details of some of the allegations - read that story here.

Te Pāti Māori has emailed its members a series of documents that contain serious allegations against one of its own MPs and her son, who is also a former staffer.

The email, sent to members shortly before 10pm, said documentation had been prepared “in direct response” to recent claims made by Eru Kapa-Kingi, son of MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, alleging the party had a leadership style akin to a “dictatorship”.

It follows efforts from Eru Kapa-Kingi to distance influential protest movement Toitū Te Tiriti, which led what is thought to be the largest protest to Parliament last year, from Te Pāti Māori due to his concerns.

Among the documents released last night appears to be a confidential Parliamentary Service report about an alleged incident on Budget Day 2024 involving Eru Kapa-Kingi, a spokesperson of Toitū te Tiriti.

A large protest featuring Eru Kapa-Kingi and Toitū te Tiriti took place on Parliament’s forecourt on the day that Budget was released.

Asked about the allegations in the document, Parliamentary Service acting chief executive Amy Brier said in a statement: “Parliamentary Service does not comment on individual employment matters.”

Eru Kapa-Kingi, a former Te Pāti Māori vice-president who resigned in March, did not respond to the Herald’s request for comment late last night.

Eru Kapa-Kingi did post on social media this morning saying: “The life of a whistleblower [laughing emoji]. I am not responding to any media. Will put out a statement in response soon.”

Mariameno Kapa-Kingi said she would get back to the Herald in the morning, saying: “If you want a proper and reasonable conversation, which you will get from me, it just won’t be tonight.”

Asked whether she had known about the incident alleged in the documents, she said: “There was an incident and it went through the usual processes through Parly [Parliament] Services and, yeah, there was a process that was run and ... I’ll leave that there.”

The MP said she did not want to get into a bigger conversation about the email sent out by her party as it was late at night and, “I just need to get my head on ... and just be clear of the things that I think are worth responding to or not responding to”.

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer told the Herald she first became aware of the allegations last Friday.

Responding to Ngarewa-Packer’s claim, Kapa-Kingi said: “Well you know we’re all up for integrity ... so if that’s her response, then that’s hers to live with.”

Asked if it was possible Ngarewa-Packer would have been aware of the alleged incident before Friday, Kapa-Kingi said: “I mean they’re the leaders.”

Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere could not be reached for comment last night.

The bombshell party email is the latest development in a string of controversies that have hit Te Pāti Māori, which last week issued a “reset” and promised more transparency amid Eru Kapa-Kingi’s claims.

The documents were sent via email to members following a meeting of the party’s national council on Sunday. It’s understood the documents were prepared over the weekend.

MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi.

Ngarewa-Packer said the Sunday meeting involved members of the party’s electorates as well as the party’s six MPs. The decision to send the documents to the wider membership was decided at that meeting, she said.

“It had advanced too much that the membership demanded transparency.”

Ngarewa-Packer said the allegations related to an alleged incident on Budget Day last year were uncovered during a party review launched to investigate Eru Kapa-Kingi’s claims made two weeks ago, which the party has rejected but refused to answer questions about.

“Unfortunately, in order to defend and review the allegations, the things that have come out aren’t a good depiction of a really good young man and I wasn’t there, I can only take what was written.”

Acknowledging she didn’t condone the behaviour alleged to have taken place, Ngarewa-Packer dismissed the suggestion the party had released the documents to discredit Eru Kapa-Kingi in light of his claims.

“I’ve got a young son and I guarantee you that is not something either of us [other co-leader Rawiri Waititi] would have gone out to do.

“This isn’t about crucifying anybody, these are the facts that our team have been able to get out.

“I have a lot of aroha for Eru and I don’t like how this has transpired but I also have a lot of aroha and commitment to the party.”

Asked whether she knew the claims contained in the documents to be true, Ngarewa-Packer said: “I’ve got no reason to doubt that the information that’s written is incorrect.”

Ngarewa-Packer said she didn’t know why she hadn’t been informed of the alleged incident before Friday. She said she understood such matters would have been raised with the MP Eru Kapa-Kingi then worked for, which she identified as Mariameno Kapa-Kingi.

Eru Kapa-Kingi, spokesman for Toitū te Tiriti. Photo / Alex Cairns

“I wouldn’t know of any staffing matters for any MPs in my party unless it was brought to our attention and it wasn’t brought to our attention.”

1News last week reported online speculation Mariameno Kapa-Kingi had overspent her budget, to which the MP said there was an “adjustment” and it was managed within the rules.

The documents also referenced an overspend of her budget. Ngarewa-Packer told the Herald the issue had since been resolved, saying some of the MPs’ budget for next year would be used this year.

Despite saying some of the allegations warranted further discussion, Ngarewa-Packer said she was personally comfortable if Mariameno Kapa-Kingi remained an MP, noting the decision sat with her Te Tai Tokerau electorate.

Ngarewa-Packer pointed to the MP’s hard work and said there was a desire to “work this out”. She lamented how the matter would be played out publicly through the media, speaking of being “crucified by the media … without a right of reply” over Eru Kapa-Kingi’s claims.

Ngarewa-Packer and her MPs will face questions about the document release today without Waititi, who has travelled to China this week for a global indigenous arts festival.

Also likely to be revealed today is Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee’s verdict on the unsanctioned haka that occurred following Te Pāti Māori MP Oriini Kaipara’s maiden speech on Thursday.

Kaipara and fellow MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke were seen briefly joining in on the haka, which prompted Brownlee to suspend the House and later promise to investigate whether any party had been involved in planning the haka.

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