Labour minister Meka Whaitiri has announced she’s switching sides and will contest Ikaroa-Rāwhiti election for Te Pāti Māori.
It’s a move which has blindsided Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and her Labour colleagues. The news broke while Hipkins was on a plane, heading for London. Stuff understands Whaitiri had not spoken to many – if any – Labour MPs about her planned defection.
She formally announced her intentions at Waipatu Marae, near Hastings, leaving acting PM Carmel Sepuloni and Labour’s deputy leader Kelvin Davis to face media shortly after in Parliament.
“This morning, I have officially notified the Speaker that I have resigned from the New Zealand Labour Party and have joined Te Pāti Māori effective immediately,” Whaitiri said.
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“And as the Ikaroa-Rāwhiti sitting MP, I intend to be seated with Te Pāti Māori when we return to Parliament.”
She lost her ministerial portfolios shortly after.
Labour has no intent to enact electoral laws which would kick her out of Parliament, and Te Pāti Māori was in talks with Speaker Adrian Rurawhe about Whaitiri staying on as an MP.
Sepuloni said she had not seen the content of the resignation by Whaitiri to the Speaker.
Hipkins declined to comment on the news, when asked by reporters in London.
“As I’ve indicated I haven’t had a conversation with Meka Whaitiri yet and I obviously want to do her the courtesy of hearing what she has to say if anything before I make a comment on it,” he said.
Labour MP Aupito William Sio said he’d recently met with Whaitiri as part of a regular catch up, but had “no idea” she was about to switch parties.
“Look, none of us had any idea – other than what we saw in the news last night,” he said on Wednesday morning. He said other MPs had tried contacting Whaitiri, but he didn’t know if any had got through to her.
“At the end of the day, it’s her decision. And you can’t do anything about personal decisions,” he said.
Ross Giblin/Stuff
Whaitiri is the MP for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti.
Labour Party junior whip Shanan Halbert said Whaitiri hadn’t spoken to him or the Labour Māori caucus.
A spokesperson for acting prime minister Carmel Sepuloni also declined to comment on Tuesday night, calling the news “speculation” – indicating she’d been caught by surprise as well.
Māori Party president John Tamihere said Whaitiri was “not a waka jumper”.
”She is a minister of the present Government and will be confirming her position tomorrow,” he said, late on Tuesday night.
Neither Heather Skipworth, who had already been announced as the Māori Party candidate for Ikaroa Rāwhiti, or Whaitiri, responded to requests for comment ahead the event.
Abigail Dougherty/Stuff
Māori Party president John Tamihere says Meka Whaitiri will announce her future in politics in Hastings on Wednesday morning.
Who is Meka Whaitiri?
Whaitiri was a minister outside of Cabinet.
She held the portfolios of customs, food safety and veterans affairs. She was also associate minister for agriculture, with responsibility for animal welfare, and statistics.
She entered Parliament in 2013, through a by-election for Ikaroa Rāwhiti triggered by the death of Parekura Horomia.
Her ministerial career had been bumpy. She was stripped of her portfolios in 2018, after then-prime minister Jacinda Ardern said she’d lost confidence in Whaitiri following an incident with a staffer.
She was later made a minister again, after spending some time on the backbench.
What does her defection mean?
While Tamihere said Whaitiri was not a “waka jumper”, her position as a minister would be untenable after a shock defection.
Hipkins may have been hoping for a less stressful week with diplomats and royalty, but he’ll need to start thinking about replacements for Whaitiri.
He and Sepuloni will also need to work to defend their Government, with the National Party saying Whaitiri’s move shows Labour is “falling apart” ahead of the election. Her exit raises questions about what pushed her from the party, especially one she’s a minister for.
For Te Pāti Māori, securing Whaitiri as a candidate positions them well going into the election. She secured a 6000 vote majority over her nearest rival, Skipworth, at the 2020 election. This shock defection leaves Labour in search of a candidate, meaning she can start campaigning early to try to move the seat into Te Pāti Māori hands.
