EXPLAINER: Te Pāti Māori has entered its most significant internal upheaval after its National Council confirmed the expulsion of two of its six MPs on Sunday night: Te Tai Tokerau MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and Te Tai Tonga MP Tākuta Ferris.
The party says the pair breached the party’s kawa (its constitution) following a six-week internal process involving mediation, hui with electorate branches, consultation with iwi chairs and senior Māori leaders, and debate within the party’s regional structures.
According to the party, the expulsion motion was supported by representatives from Tāmaki Makaurau, Waiariki, Ikaroa-Rāwhiti and Te Tai Hauāuru. Hauraki-Waikato and Te Tai Tonga abstained. Te Tai Tokerau was excluded from the hui and therefore did not participate in the voting.
Co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer have framed the expulsion as a necessary step to restore unity and stability.
“Our job is to make this a one-term Government,” the co-leaders said in a joint statement. “We will not allow anyone inside this waka to sabotage the work and sacrifice of so many.”
Ngarewa-Packer said the last six weeks had caused real mamae in the movement, and that the conflict playing out so publicly had diverted attention at a time when Māori communities are facing pressure from government reforms and legislative changes.
This is the first time Te Pāti Māori has formally expelled sitting Māori electorate MPs while they remain in Parliament. In the past, high-profile ruptures, such as Hone Harawira’s departure in 2011, resulted in MPs resigning before expulsion processes were completed.
What happens to the MPs now
The expulsion affects the MPs’ party membership, not their seats.
Both Kapa-Kingi and Ferris remain Members of Parliament because their mandates come directly from their electorates, not from the party list.
That means:
• They retain their Te Tai Tokerau and Te Tai Tonga electorates
• They keep their staffing and electorate office budgets
• They continue to vote in Parliament
• They now sit as independent MPs
Their positions on select committees are not automatically removed, but committee representation is tied to caucus numbers and could change once parties regroup. That process could take several weeks.
Both MPs immediately rejected the decision and have stated they will appeal.
Ferris said the expulsion is “plainly unconstitutional, contrary to tikanga Māori and a direct affront to the values this movement was founded upon,” and that only the people of Te Tai Tonga can withdraw his mandate.
Kapa-Kingi said the exclusion of the Te Tai Tokerau electorate council from the decision-making hui constitutes a procedural breach, and that she remains “the duly elected Member of Parliament for Te Tai Tokerau.”
Under Te Pāti Māori’s own rules, appeals are heard by the National Executive, the same body that upheld the expulsion.
Appeals process: what happens next
Under Te Pāti Māori’s constitution, the two MPs have the right to appeal.
While the National Council has the authority to cancel a person’s membership, that decision must be grounded in the party’s expectations of how members conduct themselves.
Those expectations include working to uphold Te Pāti Māori kaupapa and tikanga, acting within the rules of the constitution, abiding by decisions made through party processes, and maintaining financial and administrative membership obligations.
Members are also expected not to belong to another political party or any organisation considered by the party to be in conflict with its aims.
Although the National Council has confirmed the expulsions, the decision becomes final at the party’s next national hui, where the appeals may also be heard.
That hui, the party’s annual general meeting, is scheduled for 7 December.
Response from Te Tai Tokerau
Te Tai Tokerau electorate co-chair Kyla Campbell-Kamariera said the process had undermined tikanga and damaged trust.
“What we are witnessing is a total inability to govern and uphold tikanga at the highest levels of leadership. Decisions made without transparency or tikanga undermine the kaupapa our movement was built on. Our people deserve accountability, integrity and leadership grounded in pono and tika,” she posted online.
On social media, former Te Pāti Māori vice-president and son of Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, Eru Kapa-Kingi, also criticised the decision, arguing the party’s leadership had strayed from collective accountability and instead adopted “colonial strategies of silencing and disowning.”
Could this trigger by-elections?
Not automatically.
A by-election would only occur if Te Pāti Māori chose to invoke the waka-jumping legislation (the Electoral Integrity Amendment Act).
For waka-jumping to apply, the party’s leadership must formally notify the Speaker that the MPs’ actions distort the proportionality of Parliament.
This threshold is partly interpretive, and previous uses of waka-jumping have led to political fallout and legal challenge.
Te Pāti Māori’s co-leaders say the party is not considering this option at this time.
If waka-jumping were attempted, Kapa-Kingi and Ferris could challenge the move in the High Court, which could delay or block any by-election.
Under the law, party leaders only need to consult their caucus before triggering expulsion from Parliament, they do not require unanimous agreement from all MPs.
Neither Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke nor Oriini Kaipara have commented publicly on the expulsions.
Where this leaves the party
Te Pāti Māori now functions as a caucus of four MPs instead of six.
Now sitting as independents, both MPs are free to vote at their own discretion.
While it is considered unlikely they would support the Government on key legislative votes, given their stated kaupapa and electorate expectations, they are no longer bound by Te Pāti Māori’s caucus line.
The shift may affect select committee numbers, coalition vote margins, and Te Pāti Māori’s influence in the House.
Te Ao Māori News saw items being vacated from Ferris and Kapa-Kingi’s offices at Te Pāti Māori’s parliamentary tari.
Playing into the coalition government’s hands
At the Prime Minister’s Post-Cabinet press conference today, Christopher Luxon described Te Pāti Māori as a “joke” with “no real policies or solutions.”
He expressed similar views about the two newly independent MPs.
This morning Te Pāti Māori co-leaders said they are having constructive discussions with Labour and the Greens. However, Labour leader Chris Hipkins confirmed they have not met formally since the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election.
Hipkins said Waititi phoned him this morning as a courtesy ahead of announcing the expulsions. He also said he has spoken with party president John Tamihere in recent weeks just in passing.
“They [Te Pāti Māori] have a lot of work to do if they want to play a constructive role in Parliament or in any future governing arrangement,” Hipkins said.
For Māori political organising more broadly, this is a historic moment.
It raises long-standing questions about where authority sits, with the party organisation, or with the electorate communities who grant the mandate.
The image of two MPs being asked to leave the party but remaining in their seats highlights the tension between a party flag and an electorate mandate, between organisational discipline and whakapapa relationships.
Whether this moment restores unity or deepens the rift will depend on what unfolds next, how appeals are handled, how relationships are rebuilt, and whether the movement can reconcile tikanga-based leadership with the demands of party discipline heading into 2026.
The rupture has unfolded largely in public view, particularly across social media, and appears set to continue, with many party supporters expressing disappointment and uncertainty and much more water to flow under the bridge before stability seems in arms reach for the party.
TL;DR:
• Two electorate MPs have been expelled but remain in Parliament as independents.
• Both plan to appeal; internal processes are ongoing.
• Waka-jumping remains possible but is currently unlikely.
• The party is now attempting to stabilise and rebuild unity heading into 2026.
