Both expelled MPs have called the move “unconstitutional” – they’ll sit as independents in the Beehive for now.
The question remains whether the party will utilise the waka-jumping law to expel both MPs from Parliament, triggering byelections in their electorates.
University of Auckland professor Jason Mika told The Front Page that the mechanism is available and it’ll be up to Te Pāti Māori to activate it.
“But the issue for me is, we’ve got constituents who voted in these members to represent them in Parliament.
“That’s the difficulty of the waka jumping mechanism, that is it for Te Pāti Māori to decide to decide that those members are no longer going to represent them in Parliament?” he said.
If the waka jumping law isn’t enacted, Mika said, the pair would be free to form another political party.
“In the meantime, we have two new independent Māori MPs in Parliament. As independents, they are free to work out how they wish to organise themselves in Parliament, either as a political party, a movement, or as independents,” he said.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:
- Private vs public processes
- Transparency in politics
- Waka jumping legislation
- Impacts on party leadership
- Where to for Election 2026?
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
