The $130,000 question: Why Te Pāti Māori torpedoed one of its own

Wednesday, 15 October 2025

ANALYSIS: Te Pāti Māori torpedoed one of its own MPs by sharing alleged revelations about her office’s finances, and allegations that her son abused and intimidated security guards at Parliament.

The multiple serious allegations were in a late-night email the party sent to hundreds of members about Te Tai Tokerau MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and her son, Toitū Te Tiriti spokesperson Eru Kapa-Kingi.

The email, which Stuff has seen, included six documents that showed the Parliamentary Service was raising concerns that Mariameno Kapa-Kingi was going to blow her office’s budget by $133,000. It also included a complaint about the alleged conduct of Eru Kapa-Kingi in the Beehive.

The attachments revealed how tense the relationship between the Kapa-Kingi whānau and Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere had become.

Tamihere begins one email by saying: “Kia ora, Mariameno. Given your inability to communicate I am forwarding material to you…”

It also claimed she was refusing to discuss concerns with either Te Pāti Māori, or the Parliamentary Service, which is responsible for the finances for MPs’ offices and parliamentary security, among other functions. This, Te Pāti Māori explained, was why she had been demoted last month.

But after making these explosive allegations, and releasing these documents, Tamihere himself - and the leadership of Te Pāti Māori - have effectively refused to communicate.

The party has left questions unanswered.

Budget blown out in Tai Tokerau

For instance, the party alleged that the Parliamentary Service raised concerns with its leaders about Mariameno Kapa-Kingi’s office finances in July.

It said the service did that after telling her she was on track to blow her budget by $133,000. The overspend was due to high staffing costs, the documents set out.

“You now have $4986 for the remainder of the [parliamentary] term. Urgent action is required,” one of the emails said.

It said she must pay the bills herself or “drastically” let go of all her staff. Te Pāti Māori claimed, and neither Kapa-Kingi has responded to this, that her staffing bill was inflated because she hired her son.

“A further allegation has surfaced that most of this money, or rather the debt, occurred because Mariameno was paying Eru Kapa-Kingi,” the party said, in its Monday night email. “We will leave it to Mariameno to front that allegation and declare how much has been paid out to Eru.”

The party itself would know how the staffing issues have been addressed in the Tai Tokerau office, and how much of the alleged issue was due to Mariameno employing Eru Kapa-Kingi.

If the “drastic” option was taken, that could mean electorate staff being taken away from Tai Tokerau - which could make it harder for constituents to get help from Parliament and their MP. Te Pāti Māori should explain how this alleged financial overspend is going to impact Māori in Te Tai Tokerau.

Alleged altercation at Parliament

The party also released documents claiming Eru Kapa-Kingi swore at and threatened security guards at Parliament, after refusing to take out his swipe card and use it at the gates of the Beehive.

In a three-page letter from a security guard, released by Te Pāti Māori, the guard alleged that Eru Kapa-Kingi said: “I will f…ing knock you out.”

The guard claimed he was called a “f…ing c…”, a “piece of s…”, and a “f…ing white bald head c….”.

And the guard alleged Kapa-Kingi argued he shouldn’t need to go through security checks, by saying: “Do you know who I am? Do you know who my family is?”

This alleged altercation happened back in May 2024, on the night following the release of the Budget.

At this point, Eru Kapa-Kingi was closely involved with the party. He was its vice president and involved in his mother’s office.

He didn’t resign as vice president until March this year, according to other documents released by Te Pāti Māori.

So what did Te Pāti Māori know about this alleged incident, and why was it willing to keep him involved in the leadership of the party if the allegations were true?

Te Pāti Māori has set out its own timeline, but that did not make clear how the party responded to these concerns.

It said it became aware of the alleged issue around August last year.

“This led to [Kapa-Kingi] being trespassed from the Parliamentary premises. In addition, we learned that he was on a Parliamentary Service contract to his mother for $120,000 per annum, and this contract was terminated for serious misconduct,” the party claimed.

What has Te Pāti Māori said?

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said she learned about some of these issues on Friday, ahead of a meeting with the party’s national council on Sunday.

She would not answer questions about it as she arrived at Parliament on Tuesday.

“It’s important to remind all the media that all the comms that’s going out at the moment is intended for the membership and the national council,” she said.

“We are a party that’s owned and determined by our electorates so that’s where the comments need to be left for,” she added.

Tamihere also refused to elaborate on Tuesday.

“We do not make allegations, we speak to substance and evidence,” he told Stuff in an email.

The email continued, but was cut short, “We report to our membership not…”

Stuff asked if he would like to finish his message. He has not replied.

Eru Kapa-Kingi also did not respond to Stuff’s repeated requests for comment. In posts to social media, he suggested Te Pāti Māori released the documents because he was “a whistleblower”.

He said: “I joined Te Pāti Māori as a young, passionate man, with the belief I could help create a better world for our people. Instead, I learnt a long and hard lesson - power can truly corrupt people you once looked up to.”

Acting Parliamentary Service chief executive Amy Brier would not comment on specifics. She said: “Parliamentary Service does not comment on individual employment matters or internal party correspondence.”