Source: Radio New Zealand
Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
“The silence is deafening.”
That’s the word from newly reinstated Te Pāti Māori MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi who said she was yet to speak with her party’s leadership team following months of internal ructions and a bitter High Court battle.
In a wide-ranging interview with Mata host Mihingarangi Forbes, Kapa-Kingi said since returning to Parliament, all the she had received from party co-leader Rāwiri Waititi was a text message asking if she would be available for a short, 10-minute kōrero, and had not spoken to the party’s president John Tamihere since November 2025.
“Rāwiri messaged and asked if I was available at a particular time… we haven’t managed to pull that off.” she said.
“My view is it requires more than 10 minutes, tāku nei whakaaro. Nothing [has been] offered up, no real significant or important conversation set aside yet.”
Kapa-Kingi was reinstated to the party last week, after the High Court ruled her suspension and expulsion from the party was unlawful.
In a press statement released shortly after the court ruling was made public, the party said it would make no further comments on the matter.
Kapa-Kingi told Mata she was also yet to receive an apology.
Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and Mihingarangi Forbes. RNZ
“The silence is deafening, e pono ana, and I would say their press release probably reflects where their thinking is at and their practice.
“I would expect that at the least, which means there’s time and there are acts of remorse shown. Those things have to be evident going forward.”
Asked what accountability would look like for her, Kapa-Kingi said the “ball” was “in the court of the membership now in terms of the party” and suggested an SGM (Special General Meeting) should be on the table.
“There is clearly 55 pages of evidence to say this occurred and it was unlawful. Any right thinking Māori in a membership or even individually should recognise that we need to do something with this… we need to act on this.”
In late November, a meeting was held between Taitokerau iwi and party members to decide how the electorate should respond to their MPs expulsion. They called on president Tamihere to step down and for Kapa-Kingi to be reinstated to the party instead of remaining as an independent MP.
Kapa-Kingi said her electorate executive still supported her being in Parliament, but were concerned about whether she would still be “valued” in the party.
Rāwiri Waititi. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Asked if she had a “deadline” to decide if she wanted to remain in Parliament, Kapa-Kingi she did not but could feel the “tension” around it.
“When I first ever spoke about this, I talked about Te Tai Tokerau as voting for me, pushing for me, requiring me to do the right job for Te Tai Tokerau, to show up, to do the work, to represent with all my heart and mind present to it.” she said.
“The kaupapa itself, I don’t think belongs to any individual alone or even any party.”
Asked if the ructions within the party had taken a toll on her whānau, a tearful Kapa-Kingi said it had.
“I do fancy myself as a bit of a tough girl… but also vulnerable. This could have been figured out better.” she said.
“Not everybody’s suited to it, leadership. My message [to the leadership] is we should have done better. And we can, we can do better, we need to.”
The full interview is available on the RNZ website and on Youtube.
RNZ has approached Te Pāti Māori for comment.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
