"We have a saying in Māori," he told Morning Report today, less than 24 hours after the Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP's bombshell.
"It's basically, 'thank you, next'. We're just moving on."
Whaitiri has switched allegiances to Te Pāti Māori, the sudden move confounding her former Labour colleagues, opposition MPs and legal experts alike.
NZ First leader Winston Peters (not currently an MP) said Whatiri was "trampling" on the democratic process, specifically the waka-jumping law that was meant to prevent MPs from defecting from parties they were elected to represent, and getting to stay in Parliament.
University of Otago law professor Andrew Geddis said the language Whaitiri used at a media conference on Wednesday morning announcing her decision was "unequivocal".
"I have officially notified the Speaker that I have resigned from the New Zealand Labour Party and have joined Te Pati Māori," were Whaitiri's words.
"But it later transpired she hadn't written to the Speaker in such unequivocal terms," Geddis told Morning Report. "Instead it appears she only told the Speaker, 'I'm not going to vote with Labour any more and I want to sit somewhere else in the chamber'.
"The Speaker has made the determination that isn't enough to meet the requirements under the legislation… He seems to think under the legislation, you need to use specific magic words: 'I have quit my party' or 'I want to be an independent'."
Rurawhe said he followed the law "to the letter".
Labour could use its power under the law to kick her out of the party, Geddis said, but it had chosen not to. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins on Thursday morning said a byelection this close to the general election (in October) was not in anyone's interests.
"It would be extremely helpful if the Speaker would release the communication so that everybody could understand the events and the decision making that's gone on," ACT leader David Seymour told the House on Wednesday.
"He's clearly had correspondence with him, so he knows that that's what she wants to do, 'cause there's been some dialogue and back and forth between them," said National's Chris Bishop. "So that that's the puzzling element of all of this. It's a giant, giant mess."
Geddis agreed with opposition MPs that correspondence between Whaitiri and Rurawhe should be made public.
"It's a constitutional question, and I'm not sure it's enough for the Speaker to say, 'Trust me, I'm right'."
