Te Pāti Māori insists no left bloc without it, prepares to mobilise support again next year

Photo: RNZ/Liliian Hanly

Te Pāti Māori co-leaders say they were "blindsided" at the way things "spiralled out of control" this year.

Both Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi know next year be "tough", but insist "there is no left bloc without Te Pāti Māori".

Te Pāti Māori was riding high at the end of 2024, following a historical hīkoi to Parliament grounds.

As the party leaders sat down for an interview with RNZ at the end of 2025, they were in a markedly different position, following months of turmoil.

Ousted MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi - who is temporarily reinstated to the party following months of turmoil that led to her expulsion - told RNZ she was feeling "upbeat" heading into 2026, despite all the "yucky stuff" this year.

Takutai Tash Kemp

The party was rocked when the former Tāmaki Makaurau MP died suddenly in June after battling kidney disease.

Ngarewa-Packer said watching Kemp fight so hard to be an MP, to advocate for her people and be an "influence for her electorate", while becoming sicker, then to "lose her so suddenly" was the "most devastating thing".

They tried incredibly hard from the sidelines to support her, she said.

Waititi said she became "gravely ill" and he regretted not having "stronger" conversations with her about "just letting this mahi go".

"She fought to be in this house, she fought to stay here, even with that, and she wasn't going to let that sickness define her.

"I think, if any time we can see people really struggling, we should have those conversations and make sure that this isn't the last stop for many of our people."

He acknowledged the "fight for our people" was on one level at Parliament, but fighting to be with your "babies and your mokopuna" was just as important, if not more so.

Ngarewa-Packer said she probably wouldn't grieve properly, until she returned home and could let her breath out.

Waititi reflected on comments he'd made at his aunty Dame June Mariu's tangi, where he acknowledged that her children had to share their mother with the rest of the country and when the country gave her back, "she was broken".

He said