Te Pāti Māori has again missed the Electoral Commission's deadline. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Te Pāti Māori has again missed the Electoral Commission's deadline. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Te Pāti Māori has again failed to file its audited financial statements on time, despite being formally warned by police last year.
It’s also yet to provide the Electoral Commission with an audit report for last year’s financial statement.
Labour has also missed a deadline. It provided thecommission with its financial statements on time, but without an audit report. The commission says it is satisfied with the reasons the opposition party has provided for the delay.
According to the Electoral Commission, registered political parties must file financial statements each year. These lay out the parties’ income, expenses and surplus or deficit as well as a variety of other details about their financial performance.
The deadline for filing these documents varies between different parties, but for many – including National, Act, Labour and Te Pāti Māori - the Electoral Commission required the statements by June 30, 2025.
The commission’s website currently shows most parties met the deadline, but Te Pāti Māori’s documents are labelled “not yet received”.
Kristina Temel, the Electoral Commission’s manager for legal, regulation and policy, told the Herald it was following up with Te Pāti Māori about its compliance.
“Te Pāti Māori has not yet filed financial statements or an audit report but has told the Commission they are being prepared and will be filed soon,” said Temel.
“They have also informed us that the outstanding audit report for last year’s financial statements will be filed at the same time.”
Te Pati Maori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi have previously referred the matter to the wider party. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The Electoral Commission last year referred Te Pāti Māori to the police after it failed to file its previous annual financial statements. The document was eventually received, but was missing information, including the audit report.
Police in December formally warned the party, though the financial statements still do not have an audit report attached.
Te Pāti Māori was approached for comment, but did not respond. Its political leaders, Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer have previously refused to comment on what they have referred to as a party issue.
The commission’s website shows Labour filed its statements by June 30, but an audit report had not been received. It is also following up with Labour.
“Labour has not filed an audit report for its financial statements,” said Temel.
“The party contacted us before 30 June to advise that its audit report is taking longer than expected and at this stage we are satisfied with the reasons they and their auditor have given.”
Leader Chris Hipkins on Tuesday referred the matter to the party.
Rob Salmond, Labour’s general secretary told the Herald: “Labour is continuing to work with our audit partners as we transition to a new set of accounting practices.
“We are in the late stages of this process,” he said.
Temel said the commission can refer matters to the police if compliance “is not reached”.
No decisions had been made about any referrals “at this point”.
“Under section 210J of the Electoral Act, it is an offence for a party secretary to file a financial statement late or fail to file a financial statement without reasonable excuse.”
Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald press gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. In 2025, he was a finalist for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.
