Episode 7: May 3rd 2023 Mata Special

In this special episode of Mata Mihingarangi Forbes hosts a panel discussion about Meka Whaitiri's defection from the Labour Party to join Te Pāti Māori. Her guests are former Te Pāti Māori MP Marama Fox, former Maori Affairs Minister Dover Samuels, former Labour executive member Shane Te Pou and Morgan Godfery. 

Whaitiri will replace the candidate already chosen for the Ikaroa-Rāwhiti electorate by Te Pāti Māori, Heather Skipworth, who has agreed to step aside. 

In 2020 Labour won 67 percent of the party vote while Te Pāti Māori took just 12 percent and the seat has not been flipped in 27 years, Forbes said. 

Fox said Whaitiri's move would not be an easy decision for some to stomach, however, she believed it was "a master move" by party president John Tamihere.  The timing was perfect with the prime minister overseas and it avoided a by-election by being within six months of the general election. 

"It needed to come now if it was going to come at all but I do think there might be more following in her stead." 

Godfery said it was moving to watch Whaitiri advance the reasons for her decision which had now started to make some political sense.

Invoking the struggle over Māori land for the last 100 or so years and then linking it to the lack of progress over the last five or six years (while Labour has been in government) made a lot of sense for her as a politician but also for the wider Māori political movement. 

"So I think there'll be a lot of sympathy for Meka." 

However, Fox was more sceptical and believed that Tamihere was the "master crafter of these political movements". She had sat across the benches from Whaitiri while she smashed Te Pāti Māori and instead held up Labour as representing the Māori voice. 

There were other Māori who had become dissatisfied with Labour, such as Louisa Wall, while others such as Willie Jackson and Peeni Henare had considered moving over to Te Pāti Māori before sticking with Labour, Fox said. 

She accused Labour and National of not having Māori at the forefront of their political aspirations. 

"The true voice of Māori sits in the hands of Māori and our people need to come to that understanding that they are not being taken care of under the current political climate whether it's blue or red."  

Fox believed with Te Pāti Māori's social media presence growing and a stronger engagement at grass-roots level it was a great time to be part of what it stood for. 

"We are growing in this space of rangatiratanga [self-determination] and the Māori Party is the home for this voice."  

She believed Whaitiri would retain the seat although it would be "a hard road" for her. 

"I think Labour are going to come out all guns blazing as soon as this settles in the next few days ... She will come through this in the end but it's going to take a lot though." 

People in Tai Rāwhiti (which is part of the electorate) had been devastated by Cyclone Gabrielle and when times were bad Māori got out to vote to get rid of the government, she said. 

Homelessness and poverty were rife and any real change was coming from the iwi, not the government. 

Te Pāti Māori would be the election kingmaker, and would not align with any party but instead hold the balance of power for every vote, Fox said. 

However, Godfery said there were Māori who had voted for Labour for generations although he predicted Whaitiri would narrowly retain the seat. 

He said MPs had to look after themselves at Parliament even when they were a member of a large party. 

It took a big emotional toll on a person like Whaitiri who had worked at Parliament for years even before becoming an MP.  

'A game-changer'

Te Pou said Whaitiri's defection could be "a game-changer" for the election and he believed she would hold her seat and it would help Te Pāti Māori's chances in the Tāmaki Makaurau seat currently held by Labour's Henare. 

"I think it's going to make a huge change to the political scene." 

Godfery said the key might be whether voters viewed Whaitiri's move as selfless or selfish. 

While he believed her reasons, he was cynical about why she had not decided to leave Labour earlier. 

Samuels said Whaitiri had been "battling headwinds" within the government and has had a challenging time both as an MP and as a Minister. 

"She's done the hard yards." 

He believed Prime Minister Chris Hipkins should have stayed in New Zealand instead of going to King Charles' coronation. He could have gone onto the marae and listened to some of Whaitiri's concerns.

Samuels said Whaitiri "didn't take any prisoners" and would work hard to win the seat.