Duncan Garner: Is the party over for Te Pāti Māori?

The circus appears to be collapsing. I’m talking about the messy public unravelling of Te Pāti Māori’s MPs, who are no longer able to hide internal struggles and dissent. When you have just six MPs and they start turning on each other, then you know something is not right. It may in fact be much worse than it seems from the outside.

On Thursday, Toitū Te Tiriti, who drove last year’s nationwide hīkoi to Parliament, announced it was distancing itself from Te Pāti Māori. Spokesman Eru Kapa-Kingi told Te Ao Māori News the organisation was not a lobby group for the party. He claims the party has not held its annual general meeting and national council hui, despite constitutional requirements.

Radio New Zealand is reporting Te Pāti Māoriwill announce a “planned reset” next week.

History shows voters have little appetite for self-centred, power-hungry, ego-driven vanity, especially as Māori voters are more likely to be suffering increased hardship through these tough economic times. Their tolerance for this tussle will be limited.

The unhappiness is no longer under wraps - or aimed at the colonisers. This is far more intense; the first internal scrap to make it out of the caucus. I think it threatens the very survival of Te Pāti Māori. Will its voters walk away? There’s every chance. Infighting and internal warfare, if it’s not knocked on the head, can linger and Māori voters might just lose interest and vote for an insurance policy in Labour instead.

Many Pākehā will rejoice at the division in Te Pāti Māori, after being on the receiving end of some offensive rhetoric. So let’s not sugar-coat it: Te Pāti Māori is fighting for its survival and there’s no future in splitting it into two. What began as a political revival -- bold, unapologetic, by Māori for Māori - has devolved into a circus of internal power plays, egos, and, as Te Tai Tokerau MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi – Eru’s mother -- said after being stripped of the party whip last month, “dysfunction”.

The whip is middle management, sitting in behind the leaders and organising other MPs, and is meant to be intensely loyal to the leadership. Kapa-Kingi’s crime? She spoke of internal struggles and criticised a team member. To think she would get away with it and face no sanction was simply naive. Her demotion was swift, there was no natural justice or negotiation entered into. She broke the code and only three people can judge that: Te Pāti Māori’s co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi and party president John Tamihere.

Tamihere is the powerbroker. He’s the shadowy figure in the background who wields power and keeps things really tight. I’d say he likes control, and the deeper you look, the more it’s clear: this isn’t a team effort anymore, it’s a fight for control of the party.

NOT ALL IN THE SAME WAKA