“The Aotearoa hou I aspire to is free from racism from discrimination, from trauma and from unnecessary suffering. The Aotearoa hou I see, is vibing, it’s thriving, growing and going forward.”
Parliament was briefly suspended on Thursday afternoon after a haka tautoko for newly appointed Tāmaki Makaurau MP Oriini Kaipara.
In scenes drawing similarities to last year’s haka by Te Pāti Māori during the Treaty Principles Bill debate, the Speaker halted proceedings and cleared the House.
Having suspended the House for a short time, Gerry Brownlee returned and declared the actions “contemptuous” and promised to investigate whether any parties had been involved in planning the haka.
“People go on to marae all over the country and respect the protocols. We have a protocol here, it is our tikanga,” Brownlee said.“That tikanga is based, as I said before, on agreement and for people to decide they’re not going to participate in that process, then they put themselves very firmly in contempt of Parliament.”
Kaipara was elected as the Tāmaki Makaurau MP following the passing of Takutai Moana Natasha Kemp after a long illness, edging Labour’s Peeni Henare in the by-election.
Many supporters gathered to hear Kaipara’s opening address, with whānau and many from West Auckland marae Hoani Waititi in attendance.
She entered the House holding the text of Te Aho Matua, the educational philosophy that underpins kura kaupapa Māori, and wearing her koroua’s korowai for the first time.
During her maiden speech, Kaipara spoke of Kemp and the lasting impact she has had on whānau in Tāmaki Makaurau, in particular, her stronghold of South Auckland and Manurewa Marae.
“I also entered on behalf of Takutai Tarsh Kemp. My predecessor, my tuakana and I hold firmly in her honour and that of her whānau, all that she carried, all that she meant. Not only for Tāmaki Makaurau, but all her people who continue today to grieve for her loss.”
In her address, Kaipara said what her intentions will be.
“When I stand in this house, I do so, not as a survivor of colonisation, who made it in the Pākehā system, but as the product of Māori resilience; we are the culmination of dreams of purpose, of hard work and intentions; we are here by design.”
Speaking to Te Ao Māori News after her speech, Kaipara expressed what she hoped to convey in her kōrero.
“Resilience nē, e aro kē ana ahau ki ngā kaupapa kua roa nei tāua te Māori e tiaki mai ana hei kaupapa whakarauora i te reo Māori… Kei roto i te reo Māori te mauri o te mana Māori… Ko wai ka whawhai mō te reo? Ko wai ka pupuri i te mauri o te mana Māori?”
It was, she said, also a reminder of the long fight for te reo Māori and the guiding role of Te Aho Matua.
“Ko te Aho Matua he mātāpono, ehara ērā i te ture i te mea rānei, engari kei roto e kī ana te ira tangata, whakautu i te mana o te tangata ahakoa Māori mai, ahakoa ahurea kē mai.”
When asked about the Speaker’s suspension of the House because of her haka tautoko, Kaipara was resolute.
She challenged the assumptions of parliamentary protocol, saying tikanga Māori was often sidelined.
“Haere Māori mai ahau, ko te mea hōhā ko ngā tikanga Pākehā kāore e whakautu ana i ngā tikanga Māori, nē? Ka kī rātou, he whare tēnei i whakatū i raro i ngā tikanga o Ingarangi, o te mana o Kingi Tiare… Engari whakaarohia, kei hea tō whare? He whare kua tū i runga i ngā whenua o ngā tīpuna. Kāore au e takahi tikanga.”
“Kāhore te Māori i te iwi pērā nē, he iwi āta manaaki, he iwi āta kōrero. Koirā pea te raru i konei, kua wareware ki ngā tikanga. Kāore tāua i tāwāhi, ko Aotearoa tēnei. Nau mai, haere mai.”
‘tightening the lashings’ anticipated ‘reset’ from Te Pāti Māori leaders
Later that afternoon, Te Pāti Māori unveiled its “reset” following weeks of internal turmoil involving a demoted MP and accusations of a centralised leadership style.
Speaking from Parliament’s Grand Hall, co-leader Rawiri Waititi said the party’s journey was like a waka navigating turbulent seas.
“We dared to launch a revolutionary waka into the political seas of Aotearoa … a few of us took the plunge, we decided to refloat the waka to bring back the belief.” he said.
Waititi said their commitment now was to small course corrections rather than rebuilding from scratch: “Small adjustments, big landfall.”
He pledged that the party’s focus was on ensuring the current Government remained only a one-term administration and proving to the left, particularly Labour, that they are fit to govern.
Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer reinforced that message, saying the reset was about “steadying the waka, setting the course, and sailing together.”
She acknowledged recent fractures but said the party was now “tightening the lashings, clarifying roles, and front-footing communication.”
Ngarewa-Packer said the movement remained committed to a Māori-led transition to a clean economy and ending policies that “warehouse Māori in prisons.”
“The reset is about uniting under kaupapa. Remember, everything is called radical until it becomes transformational. Our movement is proof,” she said.
After their speeches in the Grand Hall, they briefly addressed media, prefacing that they would only answer questions about the reset.
After about 3 questions from journalists, it was the fourth that brought it to an abrupt end when a reporter asked about claims of a dictatorship model and alleged toxic work environment within Te Pāti Māori, which was revealed in damning interviews last week by Eru Kapa-Kingi, a former vice president at Te Pāti Māori.
They then said it was over and walked away as journalists asked them to come back and answer more questions.
