Powerful group of Māori leaders steps in to Te Pāti Māori fallout

Friday, 31 October 2025

The Iwi Chairs Forum has taken an unprecedented step, deciding to intervene to try and sort out the internal political strife of Te Pāti Māori.

The forum is the most influential group of Māori leaders, comprising the elected representatives from more than 70 iwi across the country. Based on the idea of kotahitanga, it allows iwi leaders to come together to tackle the big issues facing te ao Māori.

And this week, when those leaders met in Waikato, one of those big issues was Te Pāti Māori.

The forum told Te Pāti Māori, it needed to get back to focusing on the issues that mattered most to Māori - such as education, economic growth, health and the environment - rather than spending time targeting each other. The decision to intervene was “unanimous”, a spokesperson said.

Notably, Stuff understands former Māori Party president Dame Naida Glavish was one of the iwi leaders at the forum when it decided to try to sort out the disputes within Te Pāti Māori.

Internal rifts between the party’s MPs, executive and electorates have boiled over in recent weeks, with the party now attempting to suspend Tai Tokerau MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi.

Her supporters, including her son - the former Te Pāti Māori vice president and Toitū Te Tiriti leader - Eru Kapa-Kingi, have said party president John Tamihere and co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer have targeted her because they felt challenged.

Eru Kapa-Kingi accused the party of operating under a “dictatorship model” and described the leadership as “toxic”.

The party initially said it respected Eru Kapa-Kingi and would take his views on board. But it proceeded to issue a startling list of allegations against him and his mother, during a late night email to hundreds of its supporters.

They are a reflection of the wider Māori community. We need the Māori Party to do what it was voted in to do, to advocate for the big problems that matter for Māori.

Bayden Barber, Iwi Chairs Forum spokesperson

The ongoing ructions have led to the Iwi Chairs Forum becoming involved this week.

Bayden Barber, the chairperson of Ngāti Kahungunu and spokesperson for the forum, told Stuff the issues with Te Pāti Māori were too big to ignore.

“I mean, across te ao Māori, you cannot escape what is playing out on social media and other platforms.

“Te Pāti Māori was a kaupapa that started back in 2004 and a lot of Māori were involved in the kaupapa. Now, the Iwi Chairs are concerned about it - as are iwi Māori across the motu,” he said.

The forum wrote to Te Pāti Māori, asking to meet to discuss the situation. Te Ātiawa and other Wellington-based iwi offered to host all sides of Te Pāti Māori at a marae in the capital to work through the issues.

Barber said the forum, which was not aligned with any political party, decided to become involved because it was concerned the “implosion” of Te Pāti Māori could impact all Māori.

“What is happening with the implosion within the party reaches right out into the wider Māori community, whether you are a Māori Party supporter or not.

“They are a reflection of the wider Māori community. We need the Māori Party to do what it was voted in to do, to advocate for the big problems that matter for Māori,” he said.

He said the Iwi Chairs were deeply concerned about next year’s election, after “this Government attacked us on every front”.

“The bigger picture here is, there is an election 12 months away and we can’t have a kaupapa Māori political party blowing up in front of us, so we are reaching out. We want to build bridges.”

Barber said he hoped the hui could be held soon, and the Iwi Chairs were sorting out final details with all sides of Te Pāti Māori.