Labour MP suggests party can work with Te Pāti Māori when they ‘sort their issues out’
Tuesday, 10 February 2026
Labour's sole MP from a Māori electorate, Cushla Tangaere-Manuel, says her party will be able to work with Te Pāti Māori “when they sort their issues out”.
She’s the second Labour MP who has spoken about working with Te Pāti Māori in recent days, with Labour MP Willie Jackson telling a crowd at Waitangi that the Labour Party “will work with the Greens, the Māori Party, whoever” to expel the current Government.
This differs significantly from the messaging of Labour leader Chris Hipkins, who has distanced himself from the party and its controversies in recent months, saying repeatedly that they aren’t “ready” for Government.
Recent polling suggests there is no route to Government for Labour that doesn’t involve some level of support from the minor party, which broke down amid internal acrimony in the latter half of last year.
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Tangaere-Manuel is Labour's sole MP from a Māori electorate, and said both Hipkins’ and Jackson’s comments were correct.
“When they sort their issues out, we'll be able to work with them,” she said.
“We're a long way from the election at the moment, and when we do get there, and when we are in a position to negotiate, that's when we'll make our announcements.“
She said Jackson’s comments came from a “values base”.
National has been seeking to exploit Labour’s positioning and tie its biggest opponent to Te Pāti Māori.
Senior National MP Chris Bishop said the party’s MPs appeared to disagree with its leader and Kiwis deserved clarity.
“Te Pati Māori is no longer the party of Sir Pita Sharples and Dame Tariana Turia. Its views are increasingly extreme and New Zealanders deserve to know whether Chris Hipkins or Willie Jackson speaks for the Labour Party when it comes to working with Te Pati Māori.”
Hipkins said Jackson’s comments were “a bit of rhetorical flourish” and said the pair agreed they would “vigorously” compete to win all seven of the Maori seats, which would push Te Pāti Māori out of Parliament.
He would not respond to Tangaere-Manuel’s comments without seeing them but said all the Labour MPs were on the same page on setting it out closer to the elections.
Hipkins has said repeatedly that he will set out which parties he might be able to work with closer to the November 7 election, ruling Te Pāti Māori neither in or out.
It came as the latest Taxpayers’ Union poll suggested a hung Parliament would be the result if the election was held tomorrow, with neither side of Parliament having enough seats to govern.
Meanwhile, Jackson has suggested a way back for Te Pāti Māori separate from working through its infighting, saying it needed to change its “extreme“ views around abolishing the police and the creation of a Māori Parliament.
Jackson said Labour Party leaders had made it clear to Te Pāti Māori it could not work with the party if it had these views.
“All those sort of policies do not resonate with our voters and do not resonate with Maori caucus. So we want to represent Maori well, we want to be strongly Maori, but we don't want to do stuff that is just offside with your average day-to-day Māori.
“People can bring whatever they like to the table, but the leaders made it clear, we're not going down that track.”