Despite campaign gaffes, Kaipara bests Henare in a landslide amid low voter turnout

Summarised by Centrist

Labour’s Peeni Henare conceded defeat in the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election, with Te Pāti Māori’s Oriini Kaipara securing more than double his votes. The result is described as a landslide, although turnout was low.

Fewer than 10,000 votes were cast in the largest Māori electorate, where roughly 44,000 voters are enrolled, notable for having both the highest average household income among Māori electorates and the highest number of people on the jobseeker benefit. Preliminary results indicated Kaipara received just over 6,000 votes, well ahead of Henare’s just under 3,100. Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi called her win a mandate for “unapologetic representation”.

Some commentators allege that right-leaning Māori candidates were not given a fair platform.

Kaipara’s victory comes despite a widely criticised interview where she struggled with simple policy details and appeared unprepared for basic questions. This included needing to check her phone for notes mid-interview, seeming not to understand what the word “repeal” meant, and misusing it several times in an interview with Jack Tame. She also stated she would “get free lunches back in school”. School lunches have never been halted.

Despite Kaipara being a long-time member of the press, Te Pāti Māori excluded some journalists from RNZ, TVNZ, Stuff, and the Sunday Star-Times from their election night event, claiming it was about “healing”.

Challenged on whether banning journalists was democratic, Waititi brushed it off: “We owe mainstream media nothing.” Kaipara herself cited tikanga (protocol) as justification for banning journalists. 

Read more over at RNZ and The NZ Herald

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