- Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP Meka Whaitiri has blindsided Labour and crossed the floor to join Te Pāti Māori.
- Hours after confirming she’d left Labour, she lost her roles as minister for customs, veterans and food safety.
- The news shocked Labour, including acting PM Carmel Sepuloni who found out through a member of the public.
- Whaitiri is hoping to stay on as an MP, despite handing in her resignation.
- Kua konihi te MP o Ikaroa-Rāwhiti Meka Whaitiri i a Reipa, ā, kua peka ki te waka o Te Pāti Māori.
- E ruarua hāora anake i muri i te whakarērea o Reipa, i ngaro i a ia āna tūranga hei minita mō te mana ārai, ngā ika a Whiro, me te haumarutanga kai.
- I ohorere pai a Reipa, tae rā anō ki te pirimia taupua Carmel Sepuloni i rangona ai te pānui i tētahi o te marea.
- E manako ana a Meka ka noho tonu hei MP, ahakoa ngā āhuatanga o tāna tāokinga.
Meka Whaitiri has resigned from the Labour Party to join Te Pāti Māori, in a shock move that blindsided her former party.
Acting prime minister Carmel Sepuloni said it was unclear what inspired Whaitiri to defect. “We haven’t had a reason either,” she said, adding that she first heard Whaitiri may resign from a member of the public.
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Whaitiri herself said she was “never ever frustrated” within the Labour caucus.
Meanwhile, Labour deputy leader Kelvin Davis – who’s the most senior Māori MP in Government – said Whaitiri’s defection had “taken us all by surprise”.
“As a Māori caucus, we understood she was going to stand for Labour,” he said.
They dispatched East Coast MP – and Whaitiri’s ex-partner – Kiritapu Allan to meet with Whaitiri before she officially made the announcement at 10am.
John Cowpland/Stuff
Meka Whaitiri and Heather Skipworth hongi, ahead of Whaitiri confirming she will stand for Te Pāti Māori in Ikaroa Rāwhiti.
Whaitiri acknowledged she’d lose her ministerial roles through the move, but said she wanted to remain the MP for Ikaroa Rāwhiti – and sit with the Māori Party until the election. However, it’s unclear if Parliament’s rules would allow her to stay on as an MP.
Speaker Adrian Rurawhe would need to rule on whether to let her stay as an MP, or if she would need to leave, having resigned from Labour.
Whaitiri gave an emotional speech confirming her defection to Te Pāti Māori, saying her move was a show to Māori voters that she wouldn’t take their support for granted.
Te Pāti Māori
Labour minister Meka Whaitiri confirms defection to Māori Party
Her new party colleagues called it “emancipation” and said Whaitiri was being freed from her “shackles”.
“This morning I have notified the speaker I have resigned from the New Zealand Labour Party and have joined Te Pāti Māori,” Whaitiri said on Wednesday morning, at Waipatu Marae.
“The decision to cross the floor is not an easy one, but it’s the right one.”
She said she hoped to sit with Te Pāti Māori as the MP for Ikaroa Rāwhiti until the election. But by informing the Speaker she had quit Labour, she may have triggered provisions within the Waka Jumping law.
John Cowpland/Stuff
Meka Whaitiri arrived at Waipatu Marae, with Rawiri Waititi and other Māori Party MPs.
”I will be contesting the seat again in October 2023, as the Pāti Māori candidate. I have spoken my truth, the decision is in your hands,” she told those at the Hastings marae.
Māori Party president John Tamihere said Whaitiri was crossing the floor, leaving her ministerial jobs with Labour to join Te Pāti Māori.
”She’s crossing the floor, crossing the bridge to her own emancipation,” he said.
”She’s walking away from a ministerial job, she’s walking away from a sure thing. She’s walking into an unknown, but she’s doing it for the mana of our people.”
He said the party was speaking to Rurawhe, and he hoped Whaitiri would be able to stay in Parliament. Sepuloni said Labour would not push for her to be removed as an MP.
Whaitiri stood beside Heather Skipworth, who had already been announced as the Māori Party candidate for Ikaroa Rāwhiti, during the hui at Waipatu Marae.
Tamihere said Skipworth had agreed to step aside for Whaitiri to stand for Te Pāti Māori in Ikaroa Rāwhiti.
”It’s a big thing to put your ego aside to awhi your cousin,” he said.
Whaitiri’s move blindsided Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Whaitiri’s Labour colleagues. The news broke while Hipkins was on a plane, heading for London.
Late on Tuesday, sources confirmed to Stuff that Whaitiri was leaving Labour to join Te Pāti Māori.
John Cowpland/Stuff
Labour minister Meka Whaitiri has confirmed she’s leaving to join the Māori Party.
Stuff understands Whaitiri had not spoken to many – if any – Labour MPs about her planned defection, before it was revealed on Tuesday.
Labour MPs who spoke to Stuff on Wednesday morning said nobody knew Whaitiri was about to jump ship.
“Look, none of us had any idea – other than what we saw in the news last night,” Aupito William Sio said.
