Te Pāti Māori coalition credentials fail to convince business leaders
Internal warfare, parliamentary suspensions and a court defeat compound business leaders’ doubts about Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi.
Te Pāti Māori faces a steep credibility hurdle with business leaders, 93% of chief executives saying its co-leaders have failed to position the party as a credible coalition partner in a Labour-led government.
The finding in the NZ Herald’s Mood of the Boardroom 2026 survey reflects concern about a parliamentary term marked by public confrontations, internal warfare and allegations that have spilled into the courts.
Not one respondent answered yes when asked whether Ngarewa-Packer and Waititi had established the party’s coalition credentials. The remaining 7% were unsure. “Too many issues — internal and external — that suggest poor leadership and undermine credibility within the wider New Zealand,” one respondent said.
The party’s controversies have included the November 2024 haka protest against the Treaty Principles Bill, which led to Ngarewa-Packer and Waititi being suspended from Parliament for 21 days and Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke for seven days in 2025. This became a major flashpoint in the debate over parliamentary conduct and Māori rights.
The party was engulfed by bitter internal conflict involving MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and party leadership. After she was expelled, the High Court ruled the decision unlawful and ordered her reinstatement, finding the party had failed to follow its own constitutional processes. The dispute exposed serious fractures within a party that had increased its parliamentary representation from two MPs to six at the 2023 election.
“Te Pāti Māori has had a shocking term with conflict and disagreement within their own party. It’s hard to see them working well with others when they cannot even work together as a party,” said a utilities boss.
An energy CEO countered, “To be fair, they are taking the bait from Act, but leadership and rising above it would possibly be a better strategy.”
The controversies have overshadowed the party’s policy agenda. Business leaders gave low weighted-average ratings to its major tax proposals, using a scale of one to five.
Making the first $30,000 of income tax-free was the highest-rated policy, at 2.26. Taxing profits transferred offshore scored 2.01, while a ban on seabed mining received 1.86. A proposed company tax increase to 33% scored 1.33. A wealth tax on net assets above $2 million averaged 1.28, while new top income tax rates of 39%, 42% and 48% received the lowest rating, at 1.23.
Entrenching Te Tiriti o Waitangi and prohibiting Cabinet decisions that breach it scored 1.43, while a proposed Te Tiriti commission to enforce Treaty obligations averaged 1.36. One respondent warned the programme risked driving investment, employers and capital offshore, describing it as “too much tax, too much state, too much constitutional engineering”.
The results suggest Te Pāti Māori has yet to persuade business leaders that its economic and constitutional ambitions can translate into workable policy and stable political partnerships.