The odds of a by-election in Te Tai Tokerau are rising
Officials raised concerns that Te Pāti Māori Mariameno Kapa-Kingi was in danger of overspending her office’s budget by up to $133,000 and recommended “urgent action” to ensure her staff were paid.
Eru Kapa-Kingi has previously worked for Mariameno Kapa-Kingi’s office.
I think there are three views of this scandal.
The first from mainstream voters on the progressive left which is that the Maori Party leadership had every right to highlight how hollow Eru’s allegations were and that his mother’s bewildering overspending justified the late night email. In their world view te Pati Māori’s reset looks real and that they are focused on not just being an activist party in Parliament for the political theatre and that such strong armed tactics suggest they can do what is needed to be a reliable member of any left wing Government.
The second view is from the Right who hate Māori so much, they aren’t sure who to side with.
The third view is from within Māoridom who feel that sending the late night email wasn’t tikanga.
Some thoughts on that third perspective.
If it was simply Eru making allegations, I think Māori would be right to feel concerned that the 10pm email was too heavy handed and that there should have been a better tikanga way to handle the dispute, but that’s not what happened here.
Eru’s comments weren’t the bold whistle blower speaking truth to power, they were only half the side of a story that involved deeply questionable spending by his mother, on him, while he was making violent threats to Parliamentary staff!
The emails revealed show numerous attempts by Parliamentary services to warn Mariameno that she was mis-spending at an extreme rate and she refused point blank to stop it.
That isn’t acceptable and neither were Eru’s actions.
For Tikanga to exist, surely a level of self-reflection, humbleness and willingness to see mistakes made are necessary?
Eru and Mariameno’s actions forced the Party leadership to make the decision they did for transparency to Maori Party members.
Ultimately all Eru and Mariameno have managed to do is provide political ammunition for Don Brash, David Seymour and Sean Plunkett.
I don’t believe once you have read the emails regarding the overspending that Mariameno’s position to remain as an MP is tenable.
I think the odds of a by-election in Te Tai Tokerau are rising.
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At the very least Kapa-Kingi should not be selected for 2026, and placed under micromanagement while she remains an MP.
She could take the hint or self reflect and resign from Parliament and party, but…sorry is still the hardest word for most politicians…so it will probably go the ugly route as per recent Green and other previous MPs, through every procedural step.
Establishing such credibility is important for TPM to be part of the roll CoC group.
Having read the email I 100% agree.
She was giving a giant sized FU to TPM leadership and parliamentary services.
Unfortunately, the Kapa Kingi whanau mother and son are not bigger than the party TPM will need to find another candidate simple as that. Money is the root of all evil if there was no overspend why are those involved getting ratty, just face up to it and move on don’t damage the party, resign with some dignity and respect intact. There were some very high caliber Māori candidates at the last election standing for both TPM and Labour. Also, in regard to Takuta Ferris speaking out he should be allowed but this is his personal opinion doesn’t mean his party agrees with him, and they did say so. I say all this as there is a big job to do to get rid of the evil lot in power and we need TPM, Labour and the Greens to bring their A game. At the same time there is nothing wrong in disagreeing on some issues its being honest doesn’t mean you can’t work together and it’s also good for democracy.