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Summarised by Centrist
The ongoing internal Te Pāti Māori power struggle has landed in Wellington’s High Court following months of turmoil that culminated in the expulsion of two MPs, including Mariameno Kapa-Kingi.
Lawyers for Kapa-Kingi argued the party’s leadership breached its own constitution and acted unlawfully in expelling her.
She is challenging the decision, arguing it was procedurally flawed, breached tikanga, and exceeded the authority of the party’s National Council.
Mike Colson KC told the court the process amounted to a “serious injustice”, arguing Kapa-Kingi was given no notice of the meeting and that the National Council lacked the power to expel her, bypassing the party’s disciplinary process.
Colson said the party had retrospectively reframed the decision as a “cancellation of membership” rather than an expulsion, and warned the Speaker may not have been properly notified of an earlier High Court ruling, potentially leaving Kapa-Kingi legally an independent MP.
A central plank of the party’s case for expulsion was an alleged forecast overspend of Kapa-Kingi’s parliamentary budget, estimated at $133,000. Colson rejected claims the spending was for personal gain.
He told the court it was “ironic” the party labelled her projected overspend as misuse when the co-leaders’ offices were also forecast to be about $40,000 in deficit, with emails and internal documents submitted as evidence.
The hearing also touched on a possible settlement proposal, expected to be addressed later.
Editor’s note: Te Pāti Māori grounds much of its moral authority in tikanga, whakapapa, and the idea that Māori approaches to resolving conflict offer an alternative to Western colonial systems that displaced Māori authority and justice.
Yet when an internal dispute turns toxic, it is not tikanga that settles the matter but the High Court. A party that argues tikanga should be the guiding lens is now asking a colonial court to rule on whether tikanga was properly applied.
