Te Pāti Māori: Rātana not the time to negotiate with Labour
Monday, 19 January 2026
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer isn’t expecting anything explosive when politicians meet for the first time this year at Rātana Pā ‒ where she’ll also see the two MPs her party attempted to expel.
And she says her party’s conversations with Labour might have to wait until after the election.
“The biggest politics tends to be how many mokupuna [grandchildren] you’ve got,” Ngarewa-Packer told The Post.
Ngarewa-Packer’s party faces an incredibly uncertain start to election year, following the months-long drama of 2025 and a looming court date to decide whether it can kick out one of its own MPs.
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The meeting at Rātana Pā on Friday is traditionally the start of the political year, but politics is getting going a bit earlier in 2026. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is giving a state of the nation speech on Monday, Labour leader Chris Hipkins is holding a rally on Thursday and both leaders are meeting their caucus on Wednesday, when Luxon is expected to announce the election date.
Hipkins is expected to use his speech on Friday to commemorate the 90-year anniversary between Labour and the Rātana movement.
Luxon will be looking to set the scene for the election year.
Ngarewa-Packer is the MP for the seat that covers Rātana Pā and has deep connections to the movement, meaning she will be there well before Friday.
Her party attempted to expel two of its MPs during a firestorm of controversy last year - Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and Tākuta Ferris. In December, Kapa-Kingi had the expulsion temporarily halted by the High Court, with a full court hearing set down for early February.
Both Kapa-Kingi and Ferris plan to attend Rātana Pā as part of the kawe mate for the late Takutai Tarsh Kemp, a Te Pāti Māori MP whose death last year brought to the fore some of the internal tensions. It’s understood neither see this attendance as a political act.
Ngarewa-Packer said she would meet Kemp’s family, but was not sure if she would see Kapa-Kingi and Ferris, who she has not spoken to over the break.
“I tend to turn up there and go where I’m told to go and stay in the background, versus use it for my own political discussion.”
She was also not planning on talking to Hipkins or Luxon with any serious political intent - despite Hipkins’ repeated assertion her party was not “ready” for Government.
Asked about long-mooted discussions with Labour and the Greens about a potential coalition she demurred, saying those conversations could wait until after the election.
Co-leader Rawiri Waititi would speak for the party at Rātana and make clear Te Pāti Māori wasthe only one offering the entrenchment of the treaty.
“The treaty is going to be an absolute bottom line for everything,” Ngarewa-Packer said
Ready to face court
Parliament will return on January 27 with Kapa-Kingi still technically a member of Te Pāti Māori following her interim court decision.
Ngarewa-Packer would not be drawn on how she would react if the court forced the party to accept Kapa-Kingi back into its fold.
“There’s not a single party that hasn’t disciplined an MP. There’s not a single party that hasn’t had some internal conflict. Other parties have faced internal conflicts, but what I think we really learnt through last year that is we were still able to turn up.”
Ngarewa-Packer was a bit clearer about Ferris, who hasn’t attempted to get his way back into the party via the courts, saying it was clear to her he was enjoying being an independent MP.
The court will decide whatever it decides before Waitangi Day and the traditional pōwhiri for politicians the day before.
Ngarewa-Packer was scathing of the decision by Luxon to not yet confirm whether he would attend.
Luxon attended Waitangi in 2024, but commemorated Waitangi Day with Ngāi Tahu at Ōnuku Marae near Akaroa in 2025.
“There should be an effort. It shows a fundamental disrespect. If you’re going to undermine the Treaty at least have the courage to show up.”