If the first round of leaked docs from union firebrand Matt McCarten didn’t wake up the Labour hierarchy to the rot at Manukau Urban Māori Authority, this second salvo should have them scrambling for the fire extinguishers. McCarten, the ex-MUMA insider turned workplace warrior, fired off another email straight to Chris Hipkins, Labour’s would-be saviour and current party big cheese. This one’s dated 22 September, forwarding a desperate plea from earlier in the month and, crucially, attaching the motherlode: a blistering 10-page letter McCarten lobbed at the MUMA board back on 20 August.
We’ve already spilled the beans on the initial leaks, including McCarten’s frantic warnings about Willie Jackson’s bullying cover-up and his dodgy trespass order to kneecap union efforts. Remember those? Here’s a quick recap with the links:
- Exclusive: Willie Jackson accused of bullying, union-busting and cronyism to protect his missus
- Exclusive: Documents expose Willie Jackson’s trespass shenanigans to bust union and shield his manky missus
- Exclusive: Explosive leaked documents prove Willie Jackson’s wife’s bullying review did happen and expose a weapons-grade cover-up
That first batch painted a picture of a toxic fiefdom where Jackson, the Labour MP and marae landlord extraordinaire, allegedly strong-arms staff, slaps trespass notices on critics and shields his CEO wife Tania Rangiheuea from a barrage of bullying claims. But this new attachment? It’s the full autopsy report on MUMA’s corpse. McCarten lays it all out in forensic detail: systemic abuse, governance meltdown and a board that’s either comatose or complicit. He begs for a confidential hui to sort it amicably, but warns, if ignored, the gloves will come off with court filings, WorkSafe probes and public mudslinging.
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At this point it’s crystal clear MUMA is a basket case. Serious governance failures, rampant bullying and a workplace so poisonous staff are fleeing like rats from a sinking waka. Low morale, arbitrary pay freezes, favouritism and fear as the daily special. Yet here we are, a week after this scandal blew wide open with fresh leaks and video exposés. And from the legacy media? Crickets. Not a peep from the Herald, Stuff or RNZ. Why? Because calling out a Labour MP and his family empire might bruise some delicate sensibilities? Or is it just laziness wrapped in access journalism?
Making it all the more galling is Jackson’s cheeky turn in parliament yesterday. While his MUMA house burns, he’s lobbing oral questions about Māori media funding, right in the heart of his own backyard. Radio Waatea, the station MUMA owns and where Jackson pulls strings like a puppeteer on payday, gets a starring role. This screams conflict of interest louder than a haka at half-time.
The MUMA board can’t play dumb anymore. McCarten’s letter names them all: Martin Cooper, Frances Smiler-Edwards, Dr Pauline Kingi, Rangi McLean, Ella Henry, Jerome Mika, Kiri Skipworth and Tania herself (wait, the CEO on the board? That’s rich). They got this missile direct to their inboxes in August, followed by radio silence. No response, no hui: just more smoke and mirrors. Those funders pumping millions of taxpayer coin into MUMA’s coffers? Te Puni Kōkiri, MSD, the lot. They must be sweating bullets now, wondering if their dosh is propping up a bully’s playground. As Matua Kahurangi nails it in his takedown of the money trail, the MUMA millions: where the hell?.
Government ministers aren’t off the hook either. They greenlight these grants, so they knew or should have known about the governance black hole at MUMA. It’s not just sloppy: it’s reckless with public funds.
And Chris Hipkins? Mate, you’ve got some explaining to do. Two letters from McCarten, both screaming urgency, both landing in your inbox with pleas to rein in Willie before it explodes. What do you know? What have you done? Does Jackson still have your confidence as an MP, despite the whirlwind of allegations tying him to trespasses, cover-ups and staff terror? If yes, why? Labour bangs on about being the workers’ party, yet here they are, letting vulnerable kaimahi get trampled underfoot. Hipkins needs to front up or this festers into a party-wide ulcer.
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Peel back MUMA’s governance and it’s tissue-paper thin. Every decision, every dodge, every dirty deed traces straight to Willie Jackson. He’s the landlord, the MP, the union veteran turned union-buster, and the family patriarch calling shots from the marae to the boardroom. It’s a one-man show with a Māori authority sticker slapped on for cover.
Every day the legacy media buries its head, it’s another kick in the guts for those MUMA workers suffering in silence. They’ve abrogated their duty to hold power to account, preferring cosy chats with the powerful over gritty truth-telling. Shame on them. It trashes the very people they’re supposed to champion: everyday Kiwis, Māori staff included, ground down by bosses who think rules don’t apply.
Heads must roll. Starting at MUMA with that board purge and CEO reckoning. Then Labour, where the worker’s party act rings hollow amid this crony carnage. And don’t spare the legacy hacks for their cowardice in the face of abuse.
Me? I’ll keep doing what any half-decent news outfit should: shining a torch on the powerful who prey on the powerless. Because if we don’t, who will? Stay tuned. This waka’s tipping fast.
