Barry Soper: Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent on Tākuta Ferris and Mariameno Kapa-Kingi getting ousted from Te Pāti Māori

Te Pāti Māori's co-leaders won't share why their National Council decided to expel Tākuta Ferris and Mariameno Kapa-Kingi.

The Council met last night to decide on the two MPs' fate. 

The expulsion comes after weeks of public sparring between the pair and Party President John Tamihere.

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper explained the situation further.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Barry Soper, Senior political correspondence with that's a good afternoon.
Surprised or not a surprise that they kicked out the
two MPs.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Well, it was a long time coming, wasn't it.

Speaker 1 (00:08):
But Baiden Barber, poor Baden Barber from the Ewee chairs.
They've been flying up and down the country trying to
stitch this thing. Sorry for well, you know, it's been embarrassed.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
I think there was a lot of work going on
behind the scenes to try and bring the factions together.
Then they you've got the leadership, haven't You've got a
third of the Bali Party are now out of the
out of not parliament, but out of the party, which
is pretty extraordinary. There we have only in my time there've
only been two MPs expelled from parties. Donna Terri Huata

(00:43):
she was expelled by the act Party and you've got
recently Darlene Tana after all that going on with the Greens,
she went. But it's very rare to expel an MP
from a political party, and you know, an electorate MP.
They could invoke the war jumping legislation that would enforce
a by election and these two big electorates, but they

(01:06):
have to go to the Speaker and talk to him
about that. And I don't think he would be of
a mind to think about by election. And he can't
stop them, And no, we can't stop them, but they
have to have that discussion. But we know with them
it's not that easy. Look the we really don't know
what Takuta Ferris did wrong other than doing that late

(01:29):
night video. What he really did wrong Rawery White Tea.
He had a message for his party's membership today though,
which apparently has been bleeding membership since the internal wrangle
began several weeks ago. Stick with us and we'll deliver
government next year.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
Our responsibility and our future earn our hands. This week
marks one year since the Hiko and Multiturity with Tanta
Tanata Tidty and Tanata Mona stood together and stopped the
treat principles. That is what happens when we are unified
and purposeful. That is the standard we expect. We have
begun serious and constructive conversations with the Labor Party and

(02:09):
the Green Party. Now, people on the streets and the
polls have told us they want a government led by
our three parties at the helm. We will work to
deliver that outcome front today. We will not comment further
on this internal matter.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
There you go, so they believe firmly they're going to
be members of any coalition government. And when he says
that says that the Treaty Principal's bill was stopped by
that equoy, I think he should just go back and
reflect on that, because it was Chris Luxon that said
it wasn't going to go beyond the first Radio had
nothing to do with it.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
Callum has a question for you. Wasn't Alaminkupu also kicked
out of the alliance?

Speaker 2 (02:45):
She was out of the alliance, but I don't think
she was expelled in the way these people expel.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
Okay, what's going on with the Cox Oh?

Speaker 2 (02:55):
Well, what is going on? Listen?

Speaker 1 (02:57):
It's eighteen million dollars that was withheld. Didn't make a difference.
I don't think thirty millions.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
Well, the thing is that this has been going on
since February, since Mark Brown, the Prime Minister there, signed
some sort of a deal, strategic deal with China. The
danger in all of this, Heather is though, that it'll
drive the Cook Islands and other other Pacific countries into
the arms of the Chinese. That's the danger. But look,

(03:26):
certainly there is a way through. And in two thousand
and one the Joint Centenary Declaration signed between our two
countries said that you had to consult each other when
it came to defense and security. There was no consultation
that Mark Brown did with our government. And in February,
of course, Mark Brown signed that comprehensive Strategic partnership with China.

(03:50):
Now it could be brought back this relationship if you
listen to Chris Luxon, he's just said that that'll require
Mark Brown to come back to the take table to
discuss it.

Speaker 4 (04:01):
It needs to be progressed, and there is some little progress,
but we want a lot more of it, and we
want trust restored, and we want clarity and mitigations to
the questions that we have answered, and until we see so,
will pause our budgetary support. But of course that doesn't
preclude a lot of other money going into key parts
of supporting other people with the Corook Islands as well.
I'm confident that they know that they will take this
pretty seriously, which is that they need to come to

(04:22):
the table. They need to demonstrate to us that they
understand the obligations.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
And it's not just the money heither. It's the relationship
that New Zealand has always had with the Cook Islands
being a realm country, that we're sort of their protectorate
in a way.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
You're right, Alamon Coopoo defected.

Speaker 3 (04:40):
She resigned. Yea, Barry, thanks very much.

Speaker 1 (04:42):
Appreciate it very much, Political correspondent.

Speaker 3 (04:45):
For more from Heather Duplassy, Alan Drive, listen live to
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