Labour has decided to let Meka Whaitiri defect to Te Pāti Māori without forcing her out of Parliament – but Whaitiri may still be ousted, and it could be her own doing.
Whaitiri, the MP for Ikaroa Rāwhiti and now former minister for customs, announced the shock move to Te Pāti Māori on Wednesday morning, blindsiding her Labour colleagues.
Despite the defection, acting Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni said Labour would not force Whaitiri out of Parliament under the controversial “waka jumping” law.
“We don’t feel the need to invoke that,” Sepuloni said.
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But given how Whaitiri has resigned from the party, it’s possible the law means her electorate seat has automatically been vacated – an issue Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere has suggested is being worked through with Parliament’s Speaker, Adrian Rurawhe.
“It’s inappropriate to give you any landing space until that conversation has concluded. There are legal issues,” Tamihere said, after Whaitiri’s announcement at the Waipatu marae in Hastings.
Rurawhe has been contacted for comment.
The “waka jumping” legislation was passed into law by the Labour-coalition Government in 2018 for occasions where an MP leaves a party during a term of Parliament.
It states an MP’s seat becomes vacant “if the member of Parliament ceases to be a parliamentary member of the political party for which the member of Parliament was elected”.
But the law is triggered in two ways: through a written notice to the Speaker of the resignation sent by either the MP themselves, or their former political party.
Labour has confirmed it will not trigger the law by notifying the Speaker. But Whaitiri appears to have – she confirmed she had written to the Speaker on Wednesday morning to notify of her resignation from Labour, and joining of Te Pāti Māori.
John Cowpland/Stuff
Labour minister Meka Whaitiri has confirmed her defection to Te Pāti Māori.
Labour says it has not seen the letter.
If the Speaker accepts this, Whaitiri could have automatically vacated her seat.
However, Te Pāti Māori and Whaitiri did not appear to want to trigger the “waka jumping” law on Wednesday, with Whaitiri speaking as if she would see out the Parliamentary term across the House, before again contesting the Ikaroa Rāwhiti seat under the Te Pāti Māori banner.
If the electorate has been vacated, a by-election could follow. Under Parliament’s rules, a by-election within six months of the general election – set for October 14, 2023 – can be avoided if 75% of the Parliament agrees to this.
That happened when Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern quit in April.
If Whaitiri is out of Parliament and a by-election is triggered, Labour would need the National Party’s support to avoid it.
