November 03, 2023
Māori Party feeling special right now
Te Pāti Māori is celebrating the most successful election result in its history.
Special votes mean Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and Takutai Moana Natasha Kemp will join its caucus alongside fellow new MPs Tākuta Ferris and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke and co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.
Mr Waititi says winning six of the seven Māori electorates is a huge endorsement from tangata whenua for its unapologetic and liberated voice.
He says a new generation of Māori political leadership has arrived, and it is ready to re-indigenise politics in Aotearoa.
Ms Ngarewa-Packer says the party will hold the incoming government to account as it threatens to attack the treaty relationship and undo Maori progress.
She says Maori people will no longer accept crumbs from pākehā parties.