Tai Tokerau MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
The chairperson of Te Rūnanga Ā Iwi o Ngāpuhi says he is "extremely disheartened" by Te Pāti Māori declining an invitation to meet with Te Tai Tokerau voters.
Rūnanga chair Mane Tahere had invited the national executive of Te Pāti Māori to attend a face-to-face hui at Kohewhata Marae in Kaikohe this Sunday to discuss the expulsion of Tai Tokerau MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and what the strategy for the electorate would be heading into next year's general election.
Te Pāti Māori declined Tahere's invitation, saying in a letter they had been advised by "multiple rangatira of Te Tai Tokerau" not to attend "at this time".
The letter said the party was also dealing with some legal proceedings and had been advised that attending may be seen as "interfering with that process".
"We acknowledge and appreciate the intention behind your invitation and remain committed to the wellbeing of our people and to appropriate kōrero at the right time and in the right way," the letter said.
In a response sent out on Thursday, Tahere said the national executive's absence would send a loud message about how Te Pāti Māori values its northern voter base.
"At present, it appears that value is very little.
"I cannot accept the reasons given for your non-attendance. My invitation made it absolutely clear that this hui would be held under tikanga on the marae, a setting that Te Pāti Māori, of all political movements, should instinctively understand, respect, and be guided by."
Tahere said claiming multiple Te Tai Tokerau rangatira advised them not to attend did not stack up with the personal conversations he had leading up to the hui.
"I have spoken with many rangatira across Te Tai Tokerau who recognise the importance of this hui for our whānau and who believe firmly that Te Pāti Māori must be present, because showing up is who we are as iwi Māori."
Speaking to RNZ, Tahere said more than 10,000 people voted for Mariameno Kapa-Kingi to be their MP, another 7000 gave their party vote to Te Pāti Māori and a few hundred were registered to attend the weekend's hui.
"We are not hillbillies sitting up here with pitchforks. We're a mature lot, many of our Ngāpuhi people are quite on to it.
"The whole point of the programme was for whānau and even Whāea Mariameno to have their kōrero and to 'hohou te rongo' because we were cut out of much of the decision-making about our own candidate - we still have that mamae (pain) as voters in that it's just off-kilter."
He said the way Kapa-Kingi was expelled from the party was "un-Māori" and it "glaringly obvious" the national executive was following "Pākehā ture".
"A hui at the marae can break through all of that."
Mane Tahere. Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf
Despite the no-show, Tahere said the hui would still go ahead and the door would be open for Te Pāti Māori to attend.
"I was also encouraged by the positivity coming out from many of the attendees and whānau I've spoken to about being strategic, having some outcome that is focused on us as a people and being collective and united.
"You go through some riri, but you also come out with 'ko puawai tēnei, he mea rawa mō te iwi'... the pressure should be put on them so that they reconsider and turn up."
Tahere said Te Tai Tokerau represented a key electorate for Te Pāti Māori and not turning up on Sunday could spell disaster for the party at next year's election.
"Everybody will be assessing the political structuring of 'where to next', whether it's Labour or New Zealand First... the Te Pāti Māori voters, I would say, from what I've been hearing, are very much hōhā.
"This could be the make-or-break, and, perhaps by not turning up, political suicide for Te Pāti Māori."
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