Te Pāti Māori Māori Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Co-leaders | Debbie Ngarewa-Packer[1] Rawiri Waititi |
| President | John Tamihere |
| Founder | Tariana Turia |
| Founded | 7 July 2004; 21 years ago (2004-07-07) |
| Split from | Labour Party |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Left-wing[2] |
| Colours | Black, red and white |
| House of Representatives | 4 / 123 |
| Regional councillors | 2 / 132 |
| Local councillors | 3 / 718 |
| Website | |
www | |
Te Pāti Māori ([tɛˈpaːtiˈmaːori]), also known as theMāori Party, is a left-wingpolitical party in New Zealand advocatingMāori rights.[3] With the exception of a handful ofgeneral electorates,[4][5][6]Te Pāti Māori contests the reservedMāori electorates, in which its main rival is theLabour Party.
Under the current leadership ofRawiri Waititi andDebbie Ngarewa-Packer, it promotes the following policies: the upholding oftikanga Māori, the dismantling ofsystemic racism, and the strengthening of the rights promised inTe Tiriti o Waitangi,[7][8] includingtino rangatiratanga[9][10] (Māori sovereignty). The party is also committed to a mixture ofsocially progressive andgreen policy through a "Tiriti-centric" lens.[11] This includes eradicatingGoods and Services Tax on food, opposingdeep sea drilling, organising and funding aMāori health authority, lifting the minimum wage to $25 an hour, returningDepartment of Conservation land to Māori control (kaitiakitanga), and reducing homelessness.[10] Since Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer's leadership began in 2020, the party has been described asleft-wing,[12][13] andprogressive.[14][12][15]
Tariana Turia founded the Māori Party in 2004 after resigning from the governing Labour Party, in which she served as aminister, over theforeshore and seabed ownership controversy. She andPita Sharples, a high-profile academic, became the first co-leaders. The party won four Māori seats in the2005 election and went into Opposition. After the2008,2011 and2014 elections, where the party won five, three and two Māori seats respectively, it supporteda government led by the centre-rightNational Party,[16] with the Māori Party co-leaders serving asministers outside cabinet. During this time, the party advocated more moderate politics.[17]
The party won no seats in the2017 election,[18] which was analysed as being backlash for their support of National.[17] Under new leadership they returned at the2020 general election, when Rawiri Waititi won theWaiariki electorate. Although the party's share of the country-wideparty vote declined from 1.18% in 2017 to 1.17% in 2020, winning Waiariki gave the party the right to full proportional representation, giving it twomembers of parliament, with co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer subsequently becoming alist member.[19] Waititi joined Ngarewa-Packer as co-leader in October 2020 and the pair led the party to win six electorate seats and 3.08% of the popular vote in the2023 general election.[20] In 2025, the national council voted to expel MPsMariameno Kapa-Kingi andTākuta Ferris from the party.
The origins of Te Pāti Māori can be traced back to the 2004foreshore and seabed controversy, a debate about whether theMāori have legitimate claim to ownership of part or all of New Zealand'sforeshore andseabed that arose during theFifth Labour Government. A court judgement stated that some Māori appeared to have the right to seek formal ownership of a specific portion of seabed in theMarlborough Sounds. This prospect alarmed many sectors of New Zealand society however, and theLabour Party foreshadowed legislation in favour of state ownership instead. This angered many Māori, including many of Labour's Māori MPs. Two MPs representingMāori electorates,Tariana Turia andNanaia Mahuta, announced an intent to vote against the legislation.[21]
Turia, a junior minister, after being informed that voting against the government would appear "incompatible" with holding ministerial rank, announced on 30 April 2004 her intention to resign from the Labour Party. Her resignation took effect on 17 May, and she left parliament until she won aby-election in her Te Tai Hauauru seat two months later. After leaving the Labour Party, Turia, later joined by Sharples, began organising a new political party. They and their supporters agreed that the new organisation would simply use the name of "the Māori Party". They chose a logo of black and red—traditional Māori colours—incorporating a traditionalkoru design. The party constitution provides that there are two party co-leaders, one male and one female.[22] Turia and Sharples were the first to fill these roles. They indicated that they wished to unite "all Māori" into a single political movement.[21] The party was formally established on 7 July 2004.[23]
In the2005 election, the Māori Party won four out of seven Māori seats and 2.12% of the party vote. The latter entitled the party to only three list seats, so the fourth electorate seat caused anoverhang seat. In the election night count, the party vote share was under 2% and the Māori Party would have got two overhang seats; when the overhang was reduced to one, National lost a list seat that they appeared to have won on election night. Tariana Turia held Te Tai Hauauru;Pita Sharples won theTāmaki Makaurau electorate;Hone Harawira, son ofTitewhai Harawira, wonTe Tai Tokerau; andTe Ururoa Flavell wonWaiariki.[24]
In the post-election period the Māori Party convened a series ofhui to decide whether to support Labour or National, though some party leaders indicated they preferred to deal with Labour. National Party deputy leaderGerry Brownlee and leaderDon Brash tried to win over the Māori Party and claimed that it would support National to form a government, although Turia denied this.[25][26][27] She met privately with prime ministerHelen Clark and ruled out a formal coalition. Later, the Māori Party decided to remain in opposition and not be part of a Labour-led government.[28]
On 24 January 2006 the Māori Party's four MPs were jointly welcomed toRātana pā with Brash and a delegation of eight National MPs. They had been intended to be welcomed on half an hour apart but agreed to be welcomed and sit together. Turia disputed claims that this was pre-arranged, saying: "We're here for a birthday. We're not here for politics."[29] However critics said this would have reminded onlookers of how the Māori Party and National were said to be in coalition or confidence and supply talks. This may also have served to reinforce the Labour Party's election campaign statement that a 'vote for the Māori Party is a vote for National'. One Rātana kaumatua (elder) said this was deliberate and deserved after the talks.[30]
In the2008 general election the Māori Party retained all four of the seats it won in 2005, and won an additional seat, whenRahui Katene wonTe Tai Tonga from Labour. Two seats wereoverhang seats. The party's share of the party vote rose slightly to 2.39%.[31] The Labour Party won the party vote by a large majority in every Māori electorate, meaning that the typical Māori voter had split their vote, voting for a Māori Party candidate with their electorate vote and the Labour Party with their party vote.[32]
TheNational Party won the most seats overall and formed aminority government with the support of the Māori Party,ACT New Zealand andUnited Future. Sharples was given theMinister of Māori Affairs portfolio and became an Associate Minister of Corrections and Associate Minister of Education. Turia became Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, Associate Minister of Health and Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment.[33]Hone Harawira was critical of the alliance with the National Party and was suspended from the Māori Party in February 2011. He left the party and formed the left-wingMana Party in April 2011.[34]
Competing against Mana, the Māori Party's strength diminished. In the2011 general election, it won only three electorates (with 1.43% of the party vote, the party was entitled to two seats, resulting in anoverhang of one seat). The three MPs werePita Sharples inTāmaki Makaurau,Tariana Turia inTe Tai Hauāuru andTe Ururoa Flavell inWaiāriki.Rahui Katene lost theTe Tai Tonga seat toLabour'sRino Tirikatene, and Hone Harawira won theTe Tai Tokerau seat for the Mana Party. The National Party again formed aminority government with the support of the Māori Party, ACT New Zealand and United Future. Sharples and Turia were returned as ministers outside cabinet. Ahead of the2014 general election, Flavell became the male co-leader. Neither Sharples nor Turia stood for re-election.[35] At the election, Flavell heldWaiāriki electorate seat, and the party was entitled to one further list seat as it received 1.32% of the party vote.[36] This went toMarama Fox, who became the next female co-leader.[citation needed]
Prior to the2017 general election, the Māori Party formed an electoral pact with theMana Movement leader and former Māori Party MPHone Harawira. The Māori Party agreed not to contestTe Tai Tokerau as part of a deal for the two parties to try to regain theMāori electorates from the Labour Party.[37] In the election, they failed to take any seats, with Labour capturing all seven of the Māori electorates.[18][38] Party co-leaderTe Ururoa Flavell expressed sadness at the loss of seats and announced he would be resigning from politics.[39] Fellow co-leaderMarama Fox expressed bitterness at the party's defeat, remarking that New Zealand had chosen to return to the "age of colonization" and attacked the two major parties, National and Labour, for their alleged paternalism towards Māori.[40] Fox commented that Māori have "gone back like a beaten wife to the abuser" in regards to Labour's sweep of the Māori seats.[41]Metro Magazine described the Māori Party's poor results as being part of backlash against them for helping National form a government.[17] Within the following 12 months, the party’s senior figures resigned: Flavell and Fox stepped down from the co-leadership and party presidentTukoroirangi Morgan also resigned. This opened the field for a new generation of party leaders, namelyRāwiri Waititi andDebbie Ngarewa-Packer.[citation needed]
The party announcedJohn Tamihere as its candidate for theTāmaki Makaurau electorate in March 2020. Tamihere had held the electorate from 2002 to 2005, but for the Labour Party. He had also run forMayor of Auckland in2019 without success.[42] Tamihere's mayoral campaign was more right-wing, and he said the Māori Party could happily work with the National Party. This contradicted Māori Party President Che Wilson, who had set out a clear preference to work with Labour and had said "if we ever do talk to National it will have to be a big deal for us to move that way again."[43]
On 15 April 2020, the party announced that John Tamihere andDebbie Ngarewa-Packer were the new party co-leaders.[44]
In late May 2020, the party received a broadcasting allocation of $145,101 for the2020 election.[45]
In September 2020,Ikaroa-Rāwhiti candidate Heather Te Au-Skipworth released the party's sports policy which included establishing a national Māori sporting body and investing in Māori sporting scholarships and programs. She also stated "it is a known fact that Māori genetic makeup is stronger than others... Our ancestors were not just athletic, they were also strategic thinkers with intentions to survive. This all required stamina, resilience, endurance, speed, agility and logic."[46] The genetic superiority remarks were subsequently deleted prior to the2023 New Zealand general election.[47][48]
At the 2020 general election, held in October, the Māori Party'sRawiri Waititi captured theWaiariki electorate, defeating Labour MPTāmati Coffey by a margin of 836 votes. This allowed the Māori Party to enter Parliament, and with its party vote of 1.2%, it was entitled to two MPs.[49] After Waititi, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer entered Parliament as the highest-ranked person on the party list.[19] As the only male Māori Party MP, Waititi replaced Tamihere as a co-leader.[50][51][52]
On 11 November, former party co-leader Tamihere requested a vote recount in theMāori electorates ofTāmaki Makaurau andTe Tai Hauāuru, alleging Māori voters had encountered discrimination during the 2020 election. Tamihere claimed that the recount was intended to expose discriminatory laws such as the five-yearly Māori Electoral Option (which limited the ability of Māori to switch between the general and Māori rolls for a period five years). He also alleged longer wait times for Māori voters at election booths and some Māori not being allowed to vote on the Māori roll.[53]
On 26 November 2020, Te Pāti Māori MPs Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer walked out of Parliament after theSpeaker of the HouseTrevor Mallard did not allow them to speak due to parliamentary procedures limiting the speaking time by smaller parties. Waititi had attempted to pass a motion that their party leaders be allowed to give a 15-minute "address in reply" but Mallard had blocked the motion on the grounds that MPs from smaller parties were not scheduled to give their maiden speeches until the following week. Waititi described Mallard's decision as unfair while Ngarewa-Packer claimed that this was "another example of the Māori voice being silenced and ignored."[54]
On 12 April 2021, theElectoral Commission referred Te Pāti Māori to the Police for failing to disclose about NZ$320,000 worth of donations within the required timeframe. These donations came from several individuals and organisations including former party co-leader Tamihere (NZ$158,223.72), the Urban Māori Authority (NZ$48,879.85), and the Aotearoa Te Kahu Limited Partnership (NZ$120,000). Party President Che Wilson attributed the late disclosure to the fact that the party was staffed by volunteers and rookies who were unfamiliar with electoral finance laws.[55] On 29 April, the Police referred the investigation into the Māori Party's undeclared donations to theSerious Fraud Office.[56] By late September 2022, the Serious Fraud Office had closed the investigation and decided not to pursue prosecutions against the individuals and parties involved.[57]
In late September 2022,Charities Services general manager Natasha Weight confirmed that the agency was investigating two charities headed by Party President Tamihere, theTe Whānau Waipareira Trust and theNational Urban Māori Authority, for financing his 2020 election campaign. According to the Charities Register, Te Whānau o Waipareira Trust Group had loaned Tamihere NZ$385,307 to support his 2020 election campaign while the National Urban Māori Authority had paid NZ$82,695 to support his 2020 election campaign and Te Pāti Māori aspirations. Under existing legislation, charities are not allowed to donate and endorse political parties and candidates or allow them to use a charity's resources. In response, Tamihere accused the Charities Services of discriminating against Te Pāti Māori and Māori causes. Tamihere and Te Pāti Māori also confirmed that they would litigate against the Charities Service if the agency ruled against them.[58][59][60] Tamihere also criticisedThe New Zealand Herald journalist Matt Nippert's coverage of the two charities' donations to his campaigns, accusing the newspaper of racism and announcing that Te Pāti Māori would boycott theHerald.[57]
In June 2021, Te Pāti Māori called for a joint task force between theNew Zealand Security Intelligence Service andNew Zealand Police targeting right-wing extremists and rising anti-Māorihate speech in response to aYouTube video featuring a masked man calling for the slaughter of Māori and for a civil war. The video was later removed by YouTube for a breach of its community guidelines.[61] In a tweet, the party said that the video contained threats against its MPs,marae and Māori.[62] Police arrested a man after receiving multiple complaints about the video and a day after Te Pāti Māori laid a complaint with theIndependent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA).[63] A 44-year-old male was charged with making an objectionable publication.[63]
In the complaint to the IPCA, the party accused the police of having double standards when dealing with death threats made againstPākehā and Māori.[64] It compared the police's response to the video with the treatment of those who made death threats against National MPSimeon Brown.[64] Party co-leaderDebbie Ngarewa-Packer stated, "Communication and response time was inadequate, the police have continued to minimise the nature of the threat against us and our people".[64]
On 29 August 2023, Te Pāti Māori made a series of tweets apologising to refugee and migrant communities for "harmful narratives" of "xenophobia and racism" on their official party website.[65][66] Te Pāti Māori said they had removed words for their website and was rewriting policy documents. An example of policy rewriting included the "Indigenous First" framework in the party's Whānau Build policy.[65][66] The policy indicated the intent to place Māori housing needs before all others.[65][66] In 2022, Te Pāti Māori also removed a reference from its sports policy that said Māori genetic makeup was stronger than others.[66] The now removed statement read, "It is a known fact that Māori genetic makeup is stronger than others."[67]
On 3 May 2023, sitting ministerMeka Whaitiri announced that she had left the Labour Party to join Te Pāti Māori.Speaker of the HouseAdrian Rurawhe confirmed that Whaitiri would serve the remainder of her 2020–2023 term as an independent member of Parliament under standing order 35(5), which avoids invoking the "waka-jumping" provisions of theElectoral (Integrity) Amendment Act 2018.[68] Whaitiri does not sit with her party in Parliament. She will recontest theIkaroa-Rāwhiti electorate as a Māori Party candidate.[69]
On 10 May, Ngarewa-Packer and Waititi held ahaka (dance) during Parliamentary proceedings to welcome Whaitiri to the Māori Party. In response, Rurawhe ordered Ngarewa-Packer and Waititi to leave Parliament since they had not obtained the permission of the Speaker or other parliamentary parties to hold the haka.[70][71]
The party registered its new name, Te Pāti Māori, with theElectoral Commission on 12 July 2023, replacing its previous name, the Māori Party.[72]
Te Pāti Māori launched its2023 general election campaign at Te Whānau O Waipareira'sMatariki event inHenderson, Auckland on 14 July. The party campaigned on advancing the interests of theMāori people,combating racism, and the "second-rate" status of Māori, as Ngarewa-Packer labelled it.[73]
On 27 July, the party announced several redistributive tax policies including a zero tax policy on those earning below NZ$30,000, a new 48% tax on those earning above NZ$300,000, raising the companies tax rate back to 33% and a wealth tax on millionaires.[74][75] On 2 August, the party campaigned on ending state care for Māori children and replacing the presentOranga Tamariki (Ministry for Children) with an independentMokopuna Māori Authority that would network with Māori organisations,iwi (tribes), andhapū (sub-groups) to ensure that Māori children remained connected with theirwhakapapa (genealogies).[76]
In late August 2023, Te Pāti Māori revised its Whanau Build (housing) policy to eliminate an "indigenous first" provision which called for immigration to be curbed until the country's housing supply was addressed. The party also apologised to migrant and refugee communities for promoting what it described as "harmful narratives" on its website, and reiterated that it would treat everyone like how they would be treated as guests on amarae.[77]
During an interview withTVNZ journalistJack Tame in September 2023, Waititi also denied that his party's sports policy' comments about "Māori genetic makeup being stronger than others" were racist. These comments were subsequently deleted from Te Pāti Māori's website. When challenged by Tame, he responded that TPM was "trying to empower people that are climbing out from the bottom of the bonnet of colonial violence for the last 193 years" by encouraging pride in their heritage.[47][48]
Te Pāti Māori won six electorate seats and 3.08% of the popular vote.[20] Meka Whaitiri stood as the party's candidate in theIkaroa-Rāwhiti electorate but was defeated by Labour's candidateCushla Tangaere-Manuel.[78] Despite Whaitiri'sunseating, the 2023 election outcome was Te Pāti Māori's most successful election result.[79]
On 2 June 2024, theSunday Star Times journalistAndrea Vance reported thatStatistics New Zealand was investigating allegations by former staff at Manurewa Marae that Te Pāti Māori had illegally used2023 New Zealand census data to targetMāori electorate voters in theTāmaki Makaurau electorate during the 2023 election, and that participants were given supermarket vouchers, wellness packs and food parcels to encourage them to fill out census forms and switch to the Māori electoral roll. Te Pāti Māori's candidateTakutai Tarsh Kemp had won the Tāmaki Makaurau electorate during the 2023 general election. A whistleblower from theMinistry of Social Development (MSD) had alerted Statistics NZ and the Police. In response, Te Pāti Māori leader Tamihere denied the allegations and claimed that they were made by disgruntled former staff. Tamihere said that the marae had been working with the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency to promote Māori participation in the 2023 census. Tamihere also acknowledged that marae workers had given gifts to encourage people to participate in the 2023 Census and switch to the Māori roll but denied allegations of wrongdoing.[80]
On 5 June, Vance reported that theLabour Party had filed a complaint against Te Pāti Māori in November 2023 for allegedly using personal information collected during the COVID-19 immunisation programme for political campaigning purposes during the 2023 election, which constitutes a breach of electoral law. Labour's complaint alleged that Māori voters in Auckland had received two text messages from the text code 2661 urging them to vote for Te Pāti Māori. 2661 was registered with the Waipareira Trust, which is led by TPM's President Tamihere.[81] In response, Labour leaderChris Hipkins,ACT New Zealand leaderDavid Seymour, Prime Minister andNational Party leaderChristopher Luxon called for an investigation into the allegations against TPM.[82][83] ThePrivacy Commissioner also confirmed that Statistics NZ had alerted it to a potential privacy breach during its investigation. Chief statistician Mark Sowden also called for anyone with information to contact Statistics NZ.[83] In response to the second allegations, Tamihere issued a press release denouncing the allegations as baseless and claiming that the party was being targeted by opponents for speaking up for Māori. Tamihere also accusedDestiny Church leaderBrian Tamaki and his followers of attempting to take over Manurewa Marae.[84]
On 7 June, co-leaders Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer called for an urgent Police investigation into the data breach allegations made against Te Pāti Māori. Police confirmed they were already investigating complaints they had received.[85] That same day, actingPublic Service Commissioner Heather Baggott convened a meeting with the heads of the Statistics New Zealand, theMinistry of Health,Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand), the Ministry of Social Development, theMinistry of Justice, theDepartment of Internal Affairs,Te Puni Kōkiri (Ministry for Māori Development),Oranga Tamariki (Ministry for Children) and theDepartment of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, theNew Zealand Police and Electoral Commission to ensure that all relevant agencies were investigating the data breach allegations[86]
On 10 June 2024, Prime Minister Luxon announced that thePublic Service Commission would launch an independent inquiry into government agencies' safeguards for protecting people's personal data and the circumstances surrounding the data breach allegations against Te Pāti Māori. The party was not notified of the Commission's inquiry. Employment advocate Allan Hulse, who represented six former Manurewa Marae staff and the MSD employee, alleged that 1,400 census forms were photocopied and uploaded into a database owned by the Waiparera Trust. Hulse also alleged that staff used census data to help people transfer from the general to Māori roll. Tamihere has rejected these allegations, calling for people to produce "hard evidence."[87]
In early July 2024, former Māori academic Rawiri Taonui disputed the allegations against Te Pāti Māori, the Waipareira Trust and Manurewa Marae; arguing that photocopies of census data were taken solely for verification purposes and destroyed, highlighting that Statistics New Zealand had clarified that neither Tamihera, the Waipareira Trust and the Whanau Ora Commissioning Agency had access to their database, disputing that vouchers were used to encourage people to switch to the Māori electoral roll, and denying that Māori Party flyers were included in wellbeing packs.[88] In late August 2024, Taonui claimed that the whistleblowers were connected to Destiny Church and had instigated the allegations against Manurewa Marae and Te Pāti Māori following a failed attempt by the church to take over the marae.[89]
On 22 January 2025, a Statistics New Zealand report cleared the Whanau Ora Commissioning Agency of data breaches during the 2023 Census, finding that the agency increased Māori participation. The report made nine recommendations to improve Statistics NZ's procedures and referred allegations against Manurewa Marae to thePrivacy Commissioner. The report also found no evidence that one of the alleged whistleblowers had attempted to contact Statistics NZ regarding allegations against the marae.[90]
On 11 February 2025,The New Zealand Herald reported that Detective Superintendent Ross McKay was leading the inquiry into allegations regarding Te Pāti Māori's misuse of census data and Covid-19 vaccination information at Manurewa Marae for electoral campaigning purposes.[91] On 2 October, the Police andSerious Fraud Office (SFO) halted their investigation into the Manurewa Marae electoral misconduct allegations after they found insufficient evidence of corruption. The SFO andPrivacy Commissioner are still investigating potential privacy breaches.[92]
Ngarewa Packer stated that the party would serve as "the only true opposition" in Parliament for the next term, adding that their plans were "to shake Parliament up and normalise it for Māori."[79] During the opening of the54th New Zealand Parliament on 5 December 2023, Te Pāti Māori organised a series of nationwide protests known as theNational Māori Action Day to protest against theNational-led coalition government's policies onco-governance and the Treaty of Waitangi.[93] The party's MPs also modified their oaths of allegiances to reference the Treaty of Waitangi.[94]
In late May 2024, Te Pāti Māori and the Toitu Te Tiriti movement called for a nationwide day of protest known as "Toitū Te Tiriti National Day of Action" to coincide with the release of the2024 New Zealand budget on 30 May. The protest was in opposition to the National-led government perceived assault onTangata whenua and theTreaty of Waitangi. The party urged all Māori to go on strike and attendhīkoi (protests) near their location. Protest action includes a car convoy traveling fromState Highway 1 south of Auckland toHamilton.[95][96] Te Pāti Māori claimed that 100,000 people attended the "car-koi activation" rallies nationwide and advocated the establishment of a Māori parliament.[97]
On 14 November 2024, Te Pāti Māori MPHana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke along with co-leaders Waititi, Ngarewa-Packer and Labour MPPeeni Henare led a protesthaka (Ka Mate) that disrupted vote proceedings during the first reading ofACT party leaderDavid Seymour's contentiousTreaty Principles Bill. On 10 December, the four were referred to Parliament's Privileges Committee for their disruptive actions.[98] In late March 2025, the Privileges Committee ruled that Henare had acted in a "disorderly" way in joining the TPM-led haka but ruled that his actions did not amount to "contempt."[99] On 14 May 2025, the Committee found Maipi-Clarke, Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer in contempt of Parliament. Maipi-Clarke was suspended from Parliament for seven days while Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer were suspended for 21 days. Te Pāti denounced the suspensions as an attempt by colonial powers to intimidate Māori.[100] On 5 June, Parliament voted to uphold the suspensions of the three TPM MPs. In response, the party denounced the suspensions with President John Tamihere announcing that the three suspended MPs would be embarking on a national tour to rally opposition against the Government's proposedRegulatory Standards Bill.[101]
On 4 February 2025, Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer proposed the creation of a Parliamentary Commissioner forTe Tiriti o Waitangi, who would have extraordinary powers to audit bills and issue a "Tiriti veto" if policy and bills did not comply with the Treaty. They said this would be a "bottomline" in any coalition negotiations during events leading up toWaitangi Day at the Treaty Grounds.[102] In response, ACT leader Seymour accused Te Pāti Māori of attempting to "break democracy" and urged Labour leaderChris Hipkins to rule out such as policy. Hipkins said he would not support TPM's policy for a Te Tiriti Commissioner with the powers to overturn law but added he was open to ensuring there were better "checks and balances" in New Zealand's constitutional framework.[103]
On 10 April 2025, Te Pāti Māori announced that the party would be standing candidates in general seats at the2026 New Zealand general election.[104]
On 31 July 2025, the party filed urgentHigh Court proceedings calling on the Electoral Commission,Ministry of Justice and the Ombudsman to investigate allegations that Māori voters had been removed from the Māori electoral roll or shifted to the general roll without their consent.[105]
On 6 September 2025, Te Pāti Māori's candidate and former broadcasterOriini Kaipara won alandslide victory in the2025 Tāmaki Makaurau by-election, retaining theTāmaki Makaurau electorate for the party.[106][107] The Tāmaki Makaurau electorate had been vacated by the death of sitting TPM MPTakutai Tarsh Kemp on 26 June 2025.[108]
In mid-September 2025, the party'sTe Tai Tokerau MPMariameno Kapa-Kingi was replaced asparty whip by co-leaderDebbie Ngarewa-Packer,[109] with party presidentJohn Tamihere alleging that Kapa-Kingi had become detached from her constituents.[110] On 2 October 2025, the Toitū Te Tiriti's leaderEru Kapa-Kingi — the son of Mariameno Kapa-Kingi — confirmed that the group would formally sever relations with Te Pāti Māori, citing concerns about alleged bullying, authoritarian leadership, a clash of values, and the need for independence. In response, Te Pāti Māori rejected allegations of bullying and authoritarian leadership, and claimed that its decision-making process was transparent and compliant with its constitution.[111] On 9 October, the party's co-leaders announced plans to "reset" the party following internal conflict.[112] On 14 October, Te Pāti Māori circulated an internal email to its membership, alleging various indiscretions by both Eru and Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. The email alleged that Eru racially abused a parliamentary security guard, and that Mariameno failed to pay her staffers and exceeded her parliamentary office budget by NZ$133,000.[113][114] In late October 2025,Waatea News reported that the party's membership had voted to recommend suspending Mariameno and "resetting" the party's Te Tai Tokerau electorate executive.[115][116]
Between late October and early November 2025, former executive member Amokura Panoho and former vice-president Eru Kapa-Kingi called for John Tamihere's resignation as party president.[117][118] On 3 November, Tamihere publicly called on Mariameno Kapa-Kingi andTākuta Ferris, MP forTe Tai Tonga, to resign, claiming that in July 2025 the pair had conspired to oust and replace party leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer andRawiri Waititi.[119] Amidst tensions between the party leadership and Kapa-Kingi and Ferris, theNational Iwi Chairs Forum met with co-leaders Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer on 4 November in an attempt to defuse tensions within the party.[120]
On 9 November, the national council of Te Pāti Māori voted to expel both Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and Tākuta Ferris.[121] Ferris called the decision "plainly unconstitutional" and Kapa-Kingi said she would appeal.[121] On 11 November, former party co-leaderTe Ururoa Flavell questioned the voting process behind the expulsion of the two MPs, citing the exclusion of representatives from Kapa-Kingi's Te Tai Tokerau electorate and the abstention of representatives from theHauraki-Waikato electorate and Ferris's Te Tai Tonga electorate.[122] On 19 November, former Māori Party MPHone Harawira called for Kapa-Kingi and Ferris to be reinstated as members and for a national reconciliation tour.[123]
The party is committed to advancing what it sees as therights and interests of the Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. Increasingly since the beginning of colonisation, Māori have been marginalised and the group is now a minority within New Zealand alongside Pacific Islanders.[124] Te Pāti Māori policy focuses particularly onaffordable housing,[125] Māori recruitment intotertiary institutes[126] and aliving wage for all workers,[127] based on the premise that Māori are among the low-socioeconomic communities in New Zealand who are the most economically disadvantaged.[128] During the 2020s, Te Pāti Māori has been widely described asprogressive,[15][14][12] and further to the political left thanLabour byAl Jazeera[13] andNewshub.[12]
Previously, during its years in alliance withNational, the party had been described ascentrist.[129][130]
The Māori Party was formed in response to the2004 foreshore and seabed controversy, a debate about whether Māori have legitimate claim to ownership of part or all of New Zealand's foreshore and seabed. The founders of the party believed that:
Thekaupapa (policy platform) of Te Pāti Māori is based on four principles or pillars:[133]
These principles enable Te Pāti Māori to be held accountable for the maintenance and furthering of Māori concepts in the decision-making process. These concepts are not reflected in the traditionalWestminster system and Māoricustomary law is excluded from the New Zealand general legal system.[141] Other Māori-rights-specific party policies have included the upholding of "indigenous values"[142] and compulsory "heritage studies" in schools.[143]
Since 2022 the party has advocated for the abolition of the British monarchy, when the party called forQueen Elizabeth II to be removed asNew Zealand's head of state onWaitangi Day.[144][145] The party advocates for the establishment of a Māori parliament,[97] The party has several policies to ensure Māori ownership of land including transferring all crown land toIwi, ending all perpetual leases and establishing aright of first refusal for Iwi on all private land.[146][147]
The party is also committed to a mixture of socially progressive andenvironmentalist policy through a "Titiri-centric" Māori lens.[11] The party is committed to eradicatingGoods and Services Tax on food, opposingdeep sea drilling, organising and funding aMāori health authority and reducinghomelessness in Māori communities.[10]
In September 2021 the party launched an online petition to:
In its statement is mentioned Article 3 of the Treaty of Waitangi which gave the Māori language equal status with English.[149] By 17 September 2021, 51,000 had signed the petition.[151]
By early June 2022, a petition from Te Pāti Māori to rename New Zealand as "Aotearoa" had received over 70,000 signatures. On 2 June, the petition was submitted before Parliament's petitions committee. Waititi argued that the proposed name change would recognise New Zealand's indigenous heritage and strengthen its identity as a Pacific country. He opposed the idea of a referendum, claiming it would entrench the "tyranny of the majority".[152]
In May 2021, Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Ngarewa-Packer and Waititi supported Green Member of ParliamentGolriz Ghahraman's push for New Zealand to recognise theState of Palestine.[153]
During theGaza war, Te Pāti Māori advocated the expulsion of the Israeli Ambassador,Ran Yaakoby if Israel did not implement a ceasefire or open a humanitarian corridor in Gaza.[154] Co-leader Ngarewa Packer also defended Green MPChlöe Swarbrick's controversial "From the river to the sea" statement and urged the care-taker Labour Government to call for an "end to war crimes."[155]
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Māori | Total | |||||||
| 2005 | 48,263 | 2.12% | 4 / 7 | 4 / 121 |  4 | 5th | Opposition | |
| 2008 | 55,980 | 2.39% | 5 / 7 | 5 / 122 | 1 |  5th | Confidence and supply | |
| 2011 | 31,982 | 1.43% | 3 / 7 | 3 / 121 |  2 | 5th | Confidence and supply | |
| 2014 | 31,850 | 1.32% | 1 / 7 | 2 / 121 | 1 | 5th | Confidence and supply | |
| 2017 | 30,580 | 1.18% | 0 / 7 | 0 / 120 | 2 | 7th | No seats | |
| 2020 | 33,632 | 1.17% | 1 / 7 | 2 / 120 | 2 | 5th | Opposition | |
| 2023 | 87,937 | 3.08% | 6 / 7 | 6 / 123 | 4 | 6th | Opposition | |
| Source:Electoral Commission | ||||||||
As of 2020[update], the constitution of Te Pāti Māori states that it must have two leaders, that its co-leaders must be drawn from its MPs first, and that one must be female and one male.[22] These requirements have been in place since at least 2013.[156]
The party's first leaders were Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples. In December 2012, Turia announced she would resign as party co-leader before the 2014 general election. Te Ururoa Flavell announced his interest in a leadership role, but as the Māori Party constitution required male and female co-leaders, he could not take Turia's place.[156] Shortly after this, in July 2013, Sharples resigned as co-leader, saying he would quit politics altogether come the next general election in 2014. He went on to say that "Our supporters deserve a unified party" which indicated that the leadership tension influenced his decision to resign as party co-leader.[157] Flavell replaced him as the party's male co-leader. In the2014 general election, Marama Fox became the party's firstlist MP, and – as the party's only female MP – under the party rules automatically became female co-leader.
Following Rawiri Waititi's successful campaign forWaiariki at the2020 New Zealand general election, he was confirmed as male co-leader, replacing John Tamihere, at a special general meeting of the Māori Party on 28 October.[158]
| Female co-leader | Male co-leader | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Portrait | Term of Office | Parliamentary seat | Name | Portrait | Term of Office | Parliamentary seat | ||||
| 1 | Tariana Turia | .jpg) | 7 July 2004 | September 2014 | Te Tai Hauāuru | 1 | Pita Sharples | .jpg) | 7 July 2004 | 13 July 2013 | Tāmaki Makaurau (from 5 October 2005) |
| 2 | Te Ururoa Flavell | .png) | 13 July 2013 | July 2018 | Waiariki (until 23 September 2017) | ||||||
| 2 | Marama Fox |  | September 2014 | August 2018 | List MP (until 23 September 2017) | ||||||
| Offices vacant 2018–2020 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Debbie Ngarewa-Packer | .png) | 15 April 2020[1] | Incumbent | List MP (17 October 2020 – 14 October 2023) Te Tai Hauāuru (since 14 October 2023) | 3 | John Tamihere | .png) | 15 April 2020[1] | 28 October 2020 | — |
| 4 | Rawiri Waititi |  | 28 October 2020 | Incumbent | Waiariki | ||||||
The party also has a president:
| Name | Portrait | Term of office | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whatarangi Winiata | 2004 | 2009 | |
| 2 | Pem Bird | .jpg) | 2010 | 2013 |
| 3 | Naida Glavish | .jpg) | 2013 | 2016 |
| 4 | Tuku Morgan |  | 2016 | 2017 |
| 5 | Che Wilson | .jpg) | 2018 | 2022 |
| 6 | John Tamihere | | 2022 | present[159] |
A major upset in Saturday's results was the vanquishing of the Maori Party, a group which grew out of protest action about indigenous rights to New Zealand's foreshore and seabed. Formed in 2004, the party won two seats at the 2014 election; in the next Parliament, it will have none.
... of the centrist Māori Party, told media that her party 'cannot support [Clark's] nomination [for Secretary-General]'. ...
...a pretty sensible and centrist Maori party.
Our commitment to you is that we will uphold indigenous values, to ensure our country maintains its natural beauty for all who call this land home.
Primary and secondary schools will be required to teach heritage studies, which will include a history of the Pacific, in line with the aspirations of Pacific people.
