By Lillian Hanley of RNZ
MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi has been reinstated as a member of Te Pāti Māori, following an interim ruling by a High Court judge, and will now attend the party's annual general meeting this weekend.
The decision will be revisited at a full hearing in early February next year.
In a ruling published this afternoon, Justice Paul Radich said there were "serious questions to be tried" on the manner in which the Te Tai Tokerau MP was expelled from the party.
He said there were "certainly tenable arguments" that the expulsion was founded upon "mistaken facts and procedural irregularities".
Justice Radich said he was of the view there was a "position to preserve'. He acknowledged Kapa-King's position in Parliament no longer reflected her election as an MP for Te Pāti Māori.
He pointed to practical considerations that weigh in favour of preserving her position as a member, such as access to party databases.
"While excluded, she and her staff can no longer access Te Pāti Māori database. Equally, the second applicant's email address has been cancelled by the Pāti. That causes all sorts of issues for representation of the electorate."
He also said Kapa-Kingi was not able to attend the AGM in Rotorua on Sunday, or other hui, if she was not a member of the party.
"While the respondents have, in the assurances they have given, said that Ms Kapa-Kingi is welcome to attend the "protocol" session prior to the formal AGM - and that this is where the real discussion and pātai take place.
"That is a poor substitute for the full participation that would be open to her were she a member."
Justice Radich's decision to make an interim order pending the substantive hearing in 2026 was released this afternoon.
It followed Kapa-Kingi's application for a temporary court order to reinstate her into the party and remove party president John Tamihere, which was heard by Justice Radich in the High Court at Wellington yesterday morning.
Kapa-Kingi was expelled from the party, alongside Te Tai Tonga MP Tākuta Ferris, in early November this year after a period of internal conflict.
The party's co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi said the decision had been make in response to "serious breaches" of the party's constitution, with both MPs fiercely disputing their expulsions.
Te Pāti Māori response
Te Pāti Māori today acknowledged the interim high court ruling reinstating Kapa-Kingi as a member of the party,
In a statement, the party said the judge declined three of the four requests in Kapa-Kingi's application, which included removing Tamihere, stopping the party's AGM and preventing the party's national council and executive from passing further resolutions.
Ngarewa-Packer said the party was pleased to see Tamihere retain his position, and for the AGM to proceed as scheduled.
"We look forward to hosting our members on Sunday and bringing this directly to them. Our priority is, and has always been, our people."
Waititi said kotahitanga must prevail. The party said it remained committed to its tikanga and people.
The case
Kapa-Kingi's lawyer Mike Colson. KC, said his client disputed how Te Pāti Māori's constitution had been applied to two primary issues that had come to a head in recent months: a projected overspend on the Te Tai Tokerau budget and public statements made by her son Eru Kapa-Kingi.
Colson's submissions were dense but focused on the party's constitution and the step-by-step processes followed - or not followed - for the expulsion of Kapa-Kingi.
He submitted the national council meeting in which the decision to expel Kapa-Kingi was made wasn't legitimate because her electorate was excluded from the hui.
On the decision itself, Colson said it had myriad issues, including the national council having no power to suspend or expel a member, the parliamentary funds in question not being party funds, there being no misuse of the funds (including for personal gain) and that a natural justice process had not been followed.
Tamihere's lawyer Davey Salmon, KC, argued Kapa-Kingi's assertion her case for legal intervention against her expulsion was "overwhelming" was was not borne out by the facts.
On the constitution, he said the national council did have authority to expel Kapa-Kingi as it was the "primary heavy lifter of hard decisions in this context".
The constitution did not provide for a member to get a special disciplinary hearing and this was common practice used by other political parties, he said.
Salmon submitted there had been a quorum for the decision to expel Kapa-Kingi and that it was not relevant to suggest the funds in question were parliamentary funds, not party ones.
Allegations of misuse of funds were a "red rag to a bull" to certain media outlets and political opponents, and Te Pāti Māori had been determined to deal with them quickly, he said.
A more substantial hearing has been set down for February 2 next year.
